She Has Nightmares (Hiatus check profile for new Avengers fic)
by FuckinPoind3xter
Summary: I don't love him and he definitely doesn't love me. Still, he semi-fills that hole inside of me. That place wants love, maybe even needs love, but love is something I'm pretty sure doesn't exist- - Avengers AU - - Extreme Violence - -
1. Chapter 1

_**I got the name for this story from working on another story I've been working on but it just didn't seem to fit the story the way I wanted it to. So I've finally found a story in my computer that would fit. I hope you guys enjoy this, it's sort of my baby and I hope to see it reach full maturity. R&amp;R please. If I receive flames, so be it, it helps me figure out what you guys like and don't like.**_

_**Disclaimer (s): **__I own nothing – Loki, Thor, nothing. Marvel and other companies own everything save for my OC Vesta Walsh. She and her description belong solely to me. Fem fetale is not spelled wrong; it is spelt that way in street slang._

* * *

Booth babe.

Queen bee.

Rita.

Fem fetale.

Bad kitty.

I've been called a lot of things in my line of work. Rarely been called an ugly name. I've gained a high reputation; everyone knows who I am, they know to fear me, they know if anything happens to me – it's full on underground warfare. I'm a prize at this point, though it's not something I despise. I'm not honored though. I'm not proud or anything like that, I am indifferent, that's what makes me desirable among the underground. I am dangerous, I can kill who I want and no one bats an eye, no one questions it. I can snitch on anyone and it's an accepted fact.

It took me years of hard work to get me to where I am. Most say that this life isn't something to take serious, it's not an honest career. To people like me, it's a career. It's not fun and games, it's not all about getting high and partying. I am the business end, The _Queen Bee_. The title has a meaning, ya know? Sure, I get to show off. I get to do what I want, but that's because I'm the boss. I make the rules, and everyone else follows. No one questions my authority.

No human, anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

_**This story is rated T, but there are some parts that will be under the M rating for the gore and stuff like that I plan to incorporate into this story. This chapter has a bit of a taste of my future plans for this story and maybe it will get changed to M rating, who knows. I hope you enjoy; R&amp;R please, flames are welcome.\**_

_**Hija: **__daughter_

* * *

_A mí me gusta lo blanco  
Viva lo blanco  
Muera lo negro_

"You know what that means," she purred.

His bright green eyes, shot through with swollen blood vessels and rounded by a bright purple color, looked up to her. He was shaking, his whole pathetic body was shaking. Covered head to toe in cuts and bruises, a deep laceration across his hairy chest. She sneered and lifted her right foot, digging the toe of her heels into the underside of his chin and she twisted his face around gently, a smirk playing at the ends of her slightly parted lips.

"If you wouldn't have went into that pig pen, then you wouldn't be in this situation, you know that right?"

He nodded his head fiercely. "Yes ma'am, I know. Please, please I promise that I won't betray you again if you just…if you just give me another chance."

Her head snapped back, a high pitched cackle coming through her lips and she shook her head, smiling down at him, eyes crinkling at the corners. "Oh no honey, you see, it doesn't work that way. You know what we're going to do with you?"

His eyes conveyed a deeper level of fear, showing just how terrified he was. The woman tsked, slowly stepping around him, almost in a taunting manner, as she unzipped her jacket. Her heels clicked hollowly on the concrete of the old warehouse, the two men she had stationed on either side of the building grinning from ear to ear. They knew what was going to happen, and they enjoyed this kind of thing. They had grown used to it, grown to love it, anticipate it. They were trained like dogs, anticipating the kill. She stopped in front of the kneeling man, dropping her jacket to the ground in front of him, and she cocked her head to the right. When he didn't look up at her, she tsked again and crouched down. She placed two fingers under his china and forced him to look up at her.

"I asked you a question," she spoke carefully. "Do you know what we're going to do with you?"

It took him a moment, lips half parted and trembling, before he hung his head, accepting his face. She sneered at this, disgusted by his cowardice, his pathetic demeanor. A mule. He was a mule to her, he ran the money, occasionally ran the drugs, and he had gone to a police station, tried to offer a bait and switch to them. He would bust her if they would get him out of his own sentence to 20 to life over a half a kilo of cocaine in the bed of his truck.

She pushed herself to her feet and reached back, fingers curling around the handle of a metallic silver pistol, and she pulled it from the back of her jeans. "See this beauty, a Colt 45…don't see many of these in the game anymore, but I treated myself," she looked back down at him from examining her piece. "Shouldn't have tried to rat me out Carlito, you could have had a longer life."

He finally uttered a sound, a pathetic whimper. "I just wanted to be there for my family," he sobbed.

She stared down at him for a moment longer, no sympathy in her expression. "You disgust me," he looked up then, shock written all over his face for some reason. "Shouldn't have listened to Shane when he said you were trustworthy," she looked to the man at her right. "My shot caller threw me a dud, can you believe that?"

He shook his head. "Neva steered us wrong before, must've had this boy here playin games with him. Wait till Shane find out, he gonna dig you up just ta shoot you again."

The woman nodded, lips puckering as she looked back down to Carlito. "That he will. See, should've just went to jail so we could just forget about you. But here you are, on death's door and you can't even manage a straight face."

He had a pleading look on his face. "P-Please Fetale, I swear I will do anything you ask of me."

She smiled a little, disarming him for the moment. "Too late sweetheart."

His face dropped as the barrel of the colt dug into his forehead, the hollow thump of the round echoing through the warehouse as it shot through his skull. His body snapped back and slumped to the ground, his legs bent at odd angles as his body slid slowly down. The woman shook her head and wiped off the end of her weapon with the bottom of her shirt, shoving it back into the back of her jeans, and she grabbed her jacket, turning to the door.

"Do something with that," she waved a hand over her head. "I don't care, I just want it out of here by tonight."

"Yes ma'am," the two men said in unison, walking towards the body as she walked through the open door.

She paused for a moment in the parking lot of the warehouse, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out a half crumpled cigarette butt. She lit it with an old busted lighter, grimacing when the flame licked at her finger, and she tossed it to the side, looking around as she exhaled a puff of smoke. The parking lot was cracked and crumbling, the old paint having been worn away by the weather, leaving weeds to break through the asphalt. She shook her head and walked over to the car waiting for her, sitting in the back seat as the driver hurried to start the engine.

"Where you wanna go, Vesta?"

Her eyes flickered to the mirror above the dash, seeing brown eyes peering at her, and she sighed. "I don't care…how about we head to Shane's? I wanna talk to him about this shit runner he gave me."

The man driving nodded and pulled out the parking brake, pressing gently onto the gas. Vesta waited patiently for the window to open, and when it did she watched the smoke that had been trapped in the cab of the car be sucked out into the brisk December air. She took another drag from her cigarette and settled further into the seat she was sitting in, curling her arms around herself. It was too cold to be dealing with this shit today. She had planned on having a relaxing day, with no worries and everything was just going to be hunky dorey. No worries, no problems…a day where she could just get as fucked up as she wanted to and not worry about the consequences. But oh no, Shane had to give her a bum runner and ruin everything. Whatever, she would talk to him about this at a length.

She rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand, trying to wake herself up, but it was doing no good. She had been asleep when she got the call, that her runner had tried to rat her and her supplier out. It was a good thing she had the foresight to plant a nark inside the station, or the day would have been worse off.

"Vesta, we're here."

The young woman blinked and looked up, seeing that they were in fact sitting in front of Shane's apartment building. How had they gotten there so fast? She shrugged; no matter, she was glad to have gotten her so fast. She could be done with this quicker. She stepped out of the car, adjusting her coat and she shut the door to the car, walking up the steps to the apartment in front of her. As she maneuvered through and up in the apartment building, Vesta peered into the room she passed. There were men, some black, some white, and they all just looked angry. They looked up when she passed, a few of them whistling at her and she just grinned, flipping her hair back.

"Oh you guys are too cute," she purred, wiggling her fingers at them.

Two followed her out of one room, their fingers daring to get close to her and she twisted back on one, grabbing a hold of his hand and jerking it to the right, a twisted look coming onto her face at the sound of the bone cracking. But he was flying high on something, probably meth, and didn't feel it. But he felt something, maybe simply discomfort judging by the look on his face. She let him go and the hand dangled there, looking gross and limp, like a wet noodle. Vesta sneered and pushed him down onto his back, pressed the heel of her shoe into his chest.

"You know better than to touch me," she purred at him. "Bet you won't make the same mistake again," she pushed off of him and began to walk back down the hallway. "I want him gone before I get back."

* * *

Vesta stepped into the room, looking in disgust at the discarded clothes on the floor, one bra hung on the bed post at the foot of the bed. She lifted a foot and nudged the side of a woman's face, nodding when she got a groan. Passed out on the floor and naked? Vesta shook her head and looked over to the bed, seeing another whore lying across the foot of the bed like a good hound, Shane propped up and passed out, head back and jaw slack, droll shining down his chin.

Vesta sighed. "Gotta do everything now don't I?"

She stepped around the bed and rummaged around in her pocket for a moment, pulling out her fresh cigarette and she lit it, watching the flame on her lighter for a moment before she shook the flame out and then she stuffed it back into her pocket. She was so tired of this shit. He was declining faster and faster. Maybe it was the disease running through his system. And he was taking these whores with him. Vesta exhaled a puff of smoke and she leaned over, taking her cigarette between her fingers and she pressed the hot end of the cigarette into the crook of his elbow.

It took Shane just a moment to jump up, dick flying everywhere as he waved a gun around. Vesta was unfazed, smirking at him as she puffed on her still burning cigarette. When he noticed it was her he growled and tossed the gun onto his nightstand, running his hands over his face.

"Vesta, what the hell?"

"Wanted to talk to you about that runner you sent me."

Shane froze and looked over at the Queen Bee, seeing how disgruntled she was. "What about him?"

Vesta stared at him for a moment and then waved her hand, walking towards the door. "Get dressed and meet me in the Den."

He nodded but she was already gone, stepping through the kitchen on her way to the Den. She paused for a moment, plucking up a piece of ham from a pack that was open on the counter. She also walked over to the woman cleaning dishes out of the sink, giving the older woman a light hug. She turned around to Vesta, smiling when she saw the young woman standing there with a piece of meat hanging from her lips.

"Oh Vesta," she spoke with a slight Spanish accent, making the young woman feel strangely more welcome than she already was. "I haven' seen you in so long, how have you been, my _hija_?"

"I have been ok, mama," Vesta stuffed the rest of the meat into her mouth. "Jus' here to talk to Shane about his friend Carlito."

The older woman's face dropped gently, but she wasn't truly fazed. "Oh…I see."

Vesta nodded solemnly. "I am so sorry mama, but he was untrustworthy."

Mama waved a hand, nodding her head. "I understand, I have grown use to losing," she smiled and then pat Vesta on the shoulder. "Well you go run along now and I will pack you a lunch, how about that?"

Vesta smiled and nodded, headed towards the Den again. Mama always made her feel so special and child like, when she had no childhood left. The Den was technically the basement, but it was called the Den for a reason. There was a large couch settled under the stairs, handcuffs equipped into the arm rests for 'restless' guests. A small round table was sitting in the center of the room, cards and other things lay across the chipped wood. Vesta sat in one of the chairs set around the table, crossing her legs and putting out the cigarette into the hot pink ashtray already there.

Shane jumped off the final step, wearing a pair of boxers, and his hair was disheveled. He fell into the seat across from Vesta and wiped at his nose, inhaling deeply, sucking up the white powder still hanging from his nose hairs. "So what the fuck," he pulled a cigarette butt from the ashtray, lighting it. "Did Carlito do this time?"

Vesta stared at the table. "Carlito is dead, Shane."

He froze, looking up at her. "Excuse me?"

Vesta looked up then, inhaling slowly. "You heard me honey, he's dead. Jonathen caught him walking into the police station and nabbed him before he could do any damage. He was going to rat us out for his family."

Shane's face twisted into disgust and he ashed the cigarette butt, stuffing it into the corner of his mouth. "Fucker won't have a family after tonight," he exhaled a thick trail of smoke through his nose. "You took care of him I know…saved me the trouble."

Vesta shrugged. "It was simple. He was a sniveling coward. Even at the end of a gun he had no balls. Whatever. Glad to see him gone."

"So now what, we need another mule," Shane looked at her from under his brow. "You have an idea?"

"Not really, not yet," Vesta scratched at her chin. "I could start doing it myself, would save me a lot of the shit I get with mules. But of course that would put _me_ in danger," she sighed and leaned further back in her chair. "I don't know. I'll go through and see if anyone has an idea. I'll get back to you tomorrow, how about that?"

"Only giving yourself till tomorrow," Shane flicked the ashes from the end of his cigarette butt, frowning when he saw the cherry fall into the ashtray. "Give yourself some more time."

"I'm giving myself a time limit because I know I can do it," she smiled. "Mama is packing me a lunch. How has she been?"

Shane shook his head and dropped the filter of his cigarette. "Seen better days, she's going back to papa's tomorrow. Don't want her around here anymore, things have been getting bad."

"How bad?"

"Like I lost three soldiers last night," Shane ground his teeth for a moment. "And I don't even know who it is calling the shots behind those little thugs. Really starting to tick me off."

"Get ya hands offa me mother fucker!"

Shane and Vesta looked to the door, bothered by the sound of a bothered whore. Vesta sighed and pushed herself to her feet, forcing the chair to scrap back against the concrete. "Well this visit has been fun but I take that as my cue to leave," Vesta walked around and placed a hand on Shane's shoulder. It was abnormally cold. "See you later man. I'll let you know if any news pops up."

Shane waved his hand a little. "Tell Marcus to get that whore outta here. She's been causin sit all night."

Vesta chuckled. "Alright hon."

She climbed up the stairs, having to scramble out of the way of a lamp that was meant for Shane. She knew that much by the look of utter fear that ran across the naked whores face when she saw Vesta. Vesta ground her teeth together, marching forward and grabbing a hold of the whores bright green hair, jerking her backwards so that she landed on her back against the moldy tiles of the kitchen floor. She stomped her heel into the woman's stomach, feeling the skin pop slightly under the piercing weight of her shoe.

"Fuckin bitch, if that would have hit me you would get worse than stabbed with my shoe," Vesta hissed, spraying saliva across the woman's scabbed face.

She flinched under the Queen Bee, looking around and seeing looks of sympathy actually on the faces of the soldiers. She was in some deep shit. Vesta let the whore go and kicked her in the side, sliding her across the floor gently. "Now get the fuck outta here, Marcus help her."

As Marcus reached for the woman on the ground, Mama handed Vesta a small wrapped plate of food and Vesta smiled, taking it in her hands. Her driver was waiting for her at the door, talking into a cell phone Vesta didn't even know he had. He opened the door for her and then slammed it shut, jogging around the car and starting it before he was even in the seat. He hit the end button and pulled away from the sidewalk.

"What's wrong," Vesta asked in an airy sigh.

"Seems we had a break in."

She snapped to attention. "Excuse me? Someone broke into my house?"

He nodded. "Yes, they're hold up in the basement and won't come out."

"So just break down the door."

"Vault door," he mentioned, cocking his head to the side a little.

"Right," Vesta groaned and rubbed her face. "Well just get me to the house and I can get in there. I have the key."

"And if they're dangerous?"

Vesta rolled her eyes. "Then I shoot them, simple as that."

"I don't want you there…"

"Too bad, you will listen to me and get me to the house. It's mine and I am a little peeved that one person made it through my house by getting passed my highly trained and expensively paid guards."

He looked back at her through the mirror above the dash and sighed. "As you say ma'am…"

* * *

So, to say Vesta lived in a house was a total lie.

It wasn't quite a mansion, but it was way bigger than a house. No pool and very plain, the most expensive things she had were her guards, her jewelry and her dogs. How had this person gotten past the dogs? Must have been fast…or perhaps they were dead. Either way, Vesta was pissed. She had the door to the car opened before it even stopped, plate of food secured in her hand, and she pushed past the guards waiting at the door.

"Ms. Walsh it's not safe in there," they insisted.

She brushed them off, setting the plate on the counter while her dogs, Avery and Synica, licked at her ankles. "You better hope you have a good explanation as to how someone made it past all of you? What do you think I pay you for, huh?"

There were four standing in front of her, there were three somewhere else, probably waiting outside the door to the basement. The ones in front of her looked between each other, hesitant to answer. The one that spoke, his name was Jeremy is Vesta remembered correctly. He was a pretty young man, not too muscular but he got the job done and he had baby blue eyes.

"Like Rich and I told the others, when we tried to grab him, he disappeared."

Vesta's face drew a blank. "He…disappeared?"

Jeremy groaned. "See, it's so unbelievable, but it's true! I swear!"

Vesta sighed. "I don't know, if he managed to get past you and the dogs I guess I could believe it."

A glimmer of hope came through Jeremy's eyes and he smiled, looking back at the others. "See, she believes me!"

Vesta chuckled a little and then sighed, walking towards the hallway. "Alright, let's go check this out."

They followed behind her dutifully, muttering amongst themselves while the dogs panted ahead of their owner, leading her with protection towards the basement. The three men waiting in front of the door had their guns out and when they saw Vesta, they stood in respect. The hounds stopped and let their master pass before they loped off into another room in the house while the four following behind her pausing at the beginning of the hallway.

"He's in there," one of the three on either side of the door stated.

"So we're positive it's a he," Vesta mused. "I can handle that. Back up."

They were hesitant but did as she instructed. It's not they had a choice, unless they wanted to die. They had been with her fifteen years but they knew she would shoot them if they disobeyed her. She hated disobedience. She produced a key from her back pocket, fumbling with it for a moment before she slid it into the key hole of the metal door. As she turned the key, the sound of clicking and twisting gears was painfully loud. When the final gear clicked the door puffed open a little, bouncing against the door frame for a moment before vesta removed the key and opened the door. She pulled her weapon from the back of her jeans and held up a hand as her men went to follow her.

"No, a bunch of us going down there would do no good, you all stay up here."

"But Ms. Wal-"

"I said _stay_," she quipped, like she was training her dogs again.

They listened better than the dogs and shuffled there while she began to step down the…steps into the basement. She held her gun in front of her, the faint light from a few lamps in the corner of the basement giving her barely any light to see through. When she hit the bottom step she turned to the right, seeing nothing and then she went to turn to the left, but the door slammed shut behind her. She whipped around, eyes going wide when she saw a demon faced man standing at the stop of the steps, his eyes glowing red and his skin a deep cerulean color. She raised her gun and fired, but when the bullet cut through, the figure turned green and dispersed, leaving almost glitter like particles to float in the air. She whipped around when she heard breathing behind her and fired again but she got the same results, only this time she was blinded by the particles that floated around her.

She sneezed a few times, waving her hand and trying to clear her eyes but she only managed to get one open when fingers wrapped around her throat. Her body tensed and she didn't even struggle, letting a hand pull away her gun. Her eyes were wide and forward, barely flinching when the sound of her gun hitting the floor somewhere to her left echoed through the room.

"Now now, that is no way to treat a guest," the deep voice growled into her ear. His lips, ice cold, making her whole body shiver, brushed just under her ear and he inhaled deeply. When he spoke, she could _feel _the sneer on his face. "You _mewling quim._"

* * *

_**I am so sorry if this seemed rushed but it sort of was – it was more of an introduction to Vesta Walsh than Loki - but I did better with the ending than I thought I would and please R&amp;R, flames are welcome.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Tiryn: **__I am so happy you enjoy Vesta:) she's everything I hoped she would be when I made her. And you're right, Loki is going to have a hell of a lot of fun with Vesta._

* * *

"L-Let me go," Vesta spat, struggling in the man's grasp.

But he didn't let her go, he just tightened his fingers around her slender neck. The tips of his fingers were almost touching. Vesta could feel the air straining to get through the sliver of her wind pipe not squished and it was failing. She could hear her guards pounding on the door, calling her name, saying they were going to shoot at the door. Were they stupid? The bullets wouldn't make it through the door and it sure as hell wouldn't get the door open. Dear God, she needed to hire a new handful of guards.

"Sounds like your minions are getting restless without your presence," he mused against her throat.

"And when they get to you, you're fucking dead," she spat, her eyes going wide as he tightened his grip even further.

"Hush now, I'm trying to think of a way to dispose of you without having to get blood on my fingers."

For the first time, since Vesta was fourteen, her blood ran cold. Vesta had grown up in a rough neighborhood. She grew up in downtown Detroit, in a trailer park called Shady Sands. Things were bad, she saw people bleeding out behind dumpsters, almost got scooped up by a child trafficking crack head when she was nine. But through all of the shit she had endured, through the piles of dead bodies she had seen, created. Through the drugs and all that other shit, she had never lost her nerve. But Vesta Walsh just lost it all at the sound of his voice, at the sound of his threat. He would enjoy killing her more than she enjoyed killing people.

"I think I could just take you off with me, be rid of you by throwing you from a cliff or something…" he hummed. "But that would be later. Cursed body won't let me leave this cold place until I am well again. So looks like you're stuck down here with me, little one."

Stuck down here with him? He wasn't going to just kill her and be done with it? No, he wanted to watch her squirm. He wanted to torture her and then he would kill her. He wanted this to be slow. And what did he mean by his 'cursed body' wouldn't let him leave the cold place? Was he burned? Perhaps so. But…but he had been blue. He had blue skin and red eyes. She had shot a hologram or an illusion or something. It had fucking disappeared! What the hell was he?

"Un demonio…" she breathed.

"A demon? Oh no my dear, not a demon," he sighed. "But I might as well be."

"Ms. Walsh! Do we need to call someone?!"

Call someone? They were that desperate to get her out of here?

"L-Let me go, please," she managed.

The room grew silent, the sounds of her hounds whining outside the door coming through occasionally. She gasped as he kicked her in the back of her knees, causing her to crumble to the bottom of the steps, his hand still wrapped firmly around her throat. He let her pull herself onto the bottom step but he didn't let go of her throat. He didn't want her making any rash decisions. She didn't plan on it. She knew how these things worked and anyone brave enough to fuck with her was bound to be stronger. Tougher. Smarter. She just needed to cooperate. But he wasn't a normal cartel soldier, unless he had face paint and she doubted that like something serious. That would just be ridiculous, no one would take them seriously.

"You tell them to leave, you tell them everything is fine, and I will let you go. If you try anything, I will end your life right here, right now, do you understand me young one?"

She was defiant for a moment, but she hesitated and then nodded. He let her throat go and she took in a deep breath, reaching up to pat her neck a little, feeling the bruises already forming and how cold her skin was. Was he made of ice? She looked down at the floor, her whole body shifting with the effort it was taking to fill her lungs again and she swallowed.

"I'm fine guys, really. Don't call anyone, just leave."

"Hell no," she could hear Rich on the other side of the door.

She growled and whipped her head around, not bothering to remember that they couldn't see her. "_GO! Now, you call anyone and I will see to it that you are hung by your big toes and left for the buzzards," _her voice was thick with venom and malice.

They weren't listening to her? Did they know the consequences of that? They had to have forgotten.

"Are you sure Ms. Walsh?"

She took in a deep breath, calming her nerves and she nodded, though they still couldn't see her. "Yes, I am sure. Don't worry about me boys, I'll be fine. It takes more than a simple intruder to get rid of me. Just go on, I want no one on the grounds, but I want no one near the house. You understand me?"

"Yes Ms. Walsh…we hope you will make it out of there. Should I inform Shane of what is happening?"

"What part of not calling anyone don't you understand," she sighed in exasperation. "I'm tired now."

She listened to their boots thumping against the floor, fading away slowly before there was nothing but the sound of her and the intruders breathing left. She couldn't even hear her dogs upstairs. Their whining had stopped. She hoped someone had taken the two hounds with them, she didn't want to find her dogs had starved while she was trapped down here. Speaking of that, how was she going to eat? Was he going to let her? Should she ask him, or did he want her to even speak? Was she allowed to? They should get some things settled before Vesta just did whatever she wanted to. She may have been unfazed and strong, but she was in the dark – almost literally – in this situation. She wasn't ready to die, not down here, not like this.

"Can I speak?"

"Didn't you just now?"

She growled. "Don't fuck with me."

"I do not plan to. But you will do as I say, you think you are tough mortal but I am not a simple man you will be dealing with."

Mortal? He had just called her mortal? She looked up from the corner of her eye, seeing long legs clad in crossed leather and the pieces were slowly coming together, but she needed to see his face. She looked back down and then took in a deep breath, looking up at him fully. He looked exactly how she had thought. His skin was a strange blue color, markings across his cheekbones and forehead. His eyes were a bright red, actually it was more of an orange-ish red, but his irises were a dull blue. His hair was slicked back and the same color as her shadow, if not somehow darker. His expression was indifferent but he appeared to be injured judging by the blood smeared across the top of his collar bone.

"Gaining an eyeful, aren't we?"

She didn't look down, she found his eyes. "What the hell are you?"

His lips twitched towards a smile. "I am Loki of Asgard."

Her wheels began to turn on hyper drive and her brow furrowed. "As…Asgard? Like from those books _mama _read to Shane and I? Seriously?"

He waved a hand at her, walking over towards the lamp in the corner. "Fairytales to you humans, truth to me and mine," he frowned, waving his hand across the bulb and watching the steam rise from his skin. "What was once mine," he clasped his hand behind his back and turned his body halfway towards her, his eyes roaming over her. "Mine as well get acquainted right? Not like it could hurt anything since you will die when my body reforms."

Vesta stared at him in shock, eyes wide. She placed her hands in her lap, fiddling with her fingers there. "Y-You can call me Vesta."

He raised his right brow at her. "Such a rapid switch in demeanor. Are you afraid, confused? Or are you just insane?"

"I feel insane right now," she looked down. "Started so normal…"

Loki stared at her. _Vesta_, the name sounded strange. "You have the name of a goddess," he mused, memories coming back to him. "Goddess of the Hearth, fire."

Vesta looked up to him, child like curiosity in her wide eyes. "That's what _mama _said…"

Mama. Flashes of Frigga came through his mind and he felt a pang in his heart, but he didn't let it show on his face. "Your mother had an interesting knowledge of gods."

Vesta shook her head. "Not my mother, I just call her mama. My real mother can rot in hell."

She said it so simply, so plain with tone, that it sounded like she was talking about soap rather than the woman that had given birth to her. Loki was truly shocked at her words. He had never heard anyone speak of their mother in such a way before. He stared at her with indifference, wondering what was going on inside her head that was making her eyes twitch in the way they were, what was making her pick at the edges of her nails the way she was. She was nervous but indifferent, defiant. Ignorant.

"I was planning on eating before you trapped me in here," she mentioned idly.

He sighed lowly, too low for her ears to catch, and looked up at the ceiling. "You can last one night with no food. I do not care to go to the surface just yet."

Vesta was screaming inside her head, wanting to glare daggers at the man calling himself Loki. It's not like she had a reason to not believe him, his appearance was proof enough to what he said was true. He was a God, but she didn't know Loki was blue and had red eyes. Mama had the books, and he honestly looked nothing like this, but he didn't look blue in those books. In the books, he was spindly and had ginger hair and a ginger beard. This Loki, despite the blue color, was pretty hot. She wandered if his skin was always blue, so she asked him.

"Are you always blue?"

Loki scoffed immediately. "No," he started, walking in front of her slowly, thinking. "I am normally pale of face, but I was injured when I ended up here and I guess it was a defense mechanism. I am more…_durable _this way."

Vesta nodded, like she really understood. "Well you look like a cotton candy sucker," she mumbled casually, digging around in her pocket.

He stopped and glared at her, turning to face her fully. "You are testing me mortal," he warned, starting a slow pace back towards the desk.

Vesta shrugged, already growing bored even with a god in her presence. "Don't care," she lit her cigarette and took a hearty drag. "I'm aggravated I don't want to be here."

Loki smirked and paused at the edge of the desk, gaining her attention. She was aggravated? And he was bored. He had been bored since he got trapped down here by the mortals threatening him with rifles. They were boring. But this woman, this mortal woman, was beautifully entertaining. He looked back to the desk, staring at the light and wondered…

"Are you afraid of the dark," he asked.

She scoffed behind him, taking another drag from her cigarette. "No."

He grinned, lifting a hand. "Are you sure?"

"There is nothing to be afraid of in the dark," she muttered.

He turned his grin on her and she caught it, her blood running cold once again. "Except for me."

He waved his hand over the light bulb and it busted, shards of glass flying everywhere. Vesta froze up, hearing nothing. Was he moving? Why wasn't he making any noise? She was beginning to shake, the temperature in the room was beginning to drop dramatically. She jumped as the cigarette was swiped from her hand and she watched it fall to the floor, saw something snuff it out and she looked up. What was she looking for? She supposed she was trying to find a face through the darkness, but that would only serve to add to her new found fear.

"Th-This isn't funny," she stuttered, standing on her shaky legs.

He laughed somewhere in the room. "Oh but it is. I was growing bored, I am glad you happened by. This will serve to entertain me until I can leave."

Vesta took in a deep breath, trying to steal her nerves and when she did her brow deepened and she clenched her fists at her sides. "I'm not afraid of you," she seethed.

He laughed again. "You should be."

She shivered then, feeling something cold and…_wet _slither across her back. She jumped forward, hitting a hard chest and then she jumped gain. She wasn't scared. She wasn't scared. the wet thing slid across her throat, coiling gently around her throat as hands secured her to him from a grip on her arms. She jerked in his grasp and immediately regretted it as the thing coiled around her throat tightened enough to catch her attention.

"God dammit," she whispered.

"Does it hurt," he muttered, an amused tone masked beneath indifference.

He could feel the anger radiating through her. She was scared, he could feel it as well, stuffed deep under her anger. She was tough. This would take some work. He cocked his head to the right and tightened the grip around her neck. She gave a small gasp of fright and a smug satisfaction spread through Loki's body.

"Ah, music to my ears," he purred.

"Fucker," she spat. "Gotta do shit like this to make you feel big? Pathetic."

He sneered at her, brow furrowing in his own anger, and he tightened the grip around her throat, enough to get her to actually cry. She trembled in his hands and that made him cackle, a grin coming across his face. He tightened the coil even further, waiting for her to cry out again before he let her go. She took in a deep breath, gasping and trembling in fear. He let go of her arms and she crumpled at his feet, one hand coming up and grabbing onto his leg.

"Pathetic," he growled. "You dare call me pathetic?"

He couldn't see her, but he could feel the glare coming up to him. "Because you are," her voice was scratchy and hoarse.

He shook his head. "No sweet heart. _You _are the one who is pathetic. By the end of this, I will have you kneeling without command."

Vesta tensed up her anger pricking at the back of her eyes. _I will have you kneeling without command_…who the hell did he think he was? He may be used to people kneeling before him, but Vesta wasn't just another human, she was Rita. Bad Kitty. Queen Bee. It didn't work like that. _He _should be kneeling to _her_; he had no right to do this. He was getting pleasure out of torturing her. He enjoyed choking her, waiting for her to be close to breathless before he let her go and then he says something like that?

"I will never kneel to you," she growled.

He chuckled. "Oh yes you will," he took a step back from her hand, shaking her hand off like she was vermin. "You will kneel and I will promise you will enjoy it."

Now why did that send a shiver through her? Vesta looked up to where she thought his face was and she still looked fearful. This man, this God, was dangerous. He was…Vesta bit her lip and pulled her right leg up, placing her hand against her knee so she could make it to her feet. When she did she kept her eyes closed, feeling that wet something coiling around her throat again. When she opened her eyes, she saw a face. It was his and it was grinning through the darkness. She clenched her shaky hands and swallowed, peering down and seeing a light green outline of the something wrapping around her throat.

"Oh god," she muttered.

"Yes?"

She glared at his face and then watched it disappear. "You can rot in hell."

Her breathing was cut off abruptly by the wet thing snapping around her throat. She stretched onto her toes on instinct, reaching up to claw at the thing but she just hit her own skin and drew blood from the broken skin. A tear ran down her left cheek and she gasped her air. Her arms flailed out in front of her, trying to find his body to do something, but she made contact with nothing. He laughed then and it began to repeat, echoing around the room in rapid precession. Her eyes flickered around, seeing face after blue face appearing through the darkness.

The longer she was stuck here, the more she felt like she was being sucked into a void.

"Please make it stop," she begged.

"Kneel sweetheart," he purred, the command echoing around the room.

She grit her teeth and shook her head. "No."

"Then we continue until I have had my fill."

Vesta steeled her eyes, biting her tongue and fighting the tears threatening to flow, willing them back into her tear ducts. She couldn't do that, she couldn't bend.

"Bring it mother fucker."

* * *

_**Maybe I should have warned you all in the first chapter that these first few chapters may get bad into torture but not anything bad enough to be M rated. So I'm warning you guys now and I promise none of the things I do will really offend anyone. No sexual torture or anything like that, it'll just be a little fun with her mental state. If I offend anyone, tell me alright? I don't want anyone getting mad or being bothered by what I do. R&amp;R please, flames are welcome.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Tiryn: _**_Lol no, it doesn't make you a bad person but I'm so happy you're enjoying this Cx_

* * *

Vesta's eyes snapped open.

She lifted her head and blinked around the faint light coming from the corner, rubbing at the side of her head that had been resting against the wooden railing beside her. She had spent an undetermined amount of minutes or hours resting there, drifting in and out of consciousness, aroused occasionally by the sound of Loki's laughter. He was standing in the corner now, having somehow produced light she didn't see a source for. When he had his fill of staring at the floor, he looked over at her, red eyes bright.

"Stand," he ordered.

She almost refused, but that would be stupid. She hesitated though, making him wait for it, and then she pushed herself to her shaky legs. He inhaled sharply and jutted his chin upwards, obviously pleased by this reluctant display of obedience.

"Good kitten," he walked towards her slowly, purposefully grating against her nerves. "Now, I will shackle you and you will obey. I am letting you out of the basement, if only for a moment."

A glimmer of mischief went through her pretty eyes but her face remained blank. "What for," this was a negotiation, she knew negotiations.

But not with a God.

"Don't get any ideas kitten," she ground her teeth as he said that. "I will be there, agonizingly close. Need you fresh faced and pretty for another round."

Another one of those shivers ran through her body. Vesta remembered briefly the recent assault he had inflicted upon her body. At his words, the bruises littering her once blemish free skin began to pulse in sharp pain. She reached up subconsciously and wrapped her arms around herself, nodding slowly.

"Do I get to eat?"

"Maybe," he hummed, reaching up to her pretty little neck and wrapping his hand around it. "Such tender skin," he murmured.

As his fingers tightened, Loki knew he enjoyed choking this mortal. It gave him some sort of sick pleasure. He wondered briefly if it felt like this with other mortals and that produced an evil future plan in his twisted mind. Her eyes still held defiance. She was nowhere near broken. She was just tired. Loki would have enjoyed watching her squirming in the dungeons of Asgard, trapped inside a magically reinforced cell shimmering gold. Oh yes, that would certaintly be _pleasing_ to his eyes. He gave a quick little squeeze and she gasped gently, her eyes closing for a moment before she was glaring at him again.

"God dammit, stop," she spat.

He shook his head slowly, wondering why she seemed unfazed by his touch. She was a fighter. "Why do you fight, though you know there will be an end to your struggling at my hands?"

That made her hesitate in her struggle. "If anyone finds out I just crumpled, and I _survive _somehow, I don't need anyone to know I just gave up and bowed," she growled at him. "If I die fighting, so be it, as long as I fought."

Loki rolled his eyes and dropped her. The unexpected loss of support had her on her knees in an instant and he listened to her curse about how she kept ending up on the floor as he stepped away from her. "I hate the human spirit. You never stop fighting, even though you know there is no hope of living and that just sickens me," he looked down at her, as though she were in on his anger. "It truly does, I find it strange how much it sickens me," he shook his head and tsked gently. "But no matter. Back on your feet."

She glared through her bangs and stumbled to her feet, not missing the pleased look across his lips. "I am not obeying you," she quipped.

"It seems you are kitten," she knew he called her that because of the anger she showed when it was spoken. "No sense in denying your obedience. Obey me more often and I just might treat you."

He just might treat her? What the hell did that mean? As she opened her lips to speak, he reached out and took a hold of both of her hands. She struggled for a moment, looking down as her hands turned green and then gold, a subtle blue, just like his hands. As he let her hands go they dropped together. She tried to pull them a part but held them up with a confused look on her face as they wouldn't come apart. Her hands were soaked through with the cold blue color, and every time she tried to pull her hands apart the outer edges of her clasped hands would shine faintly white.

She looked up at him in bewilderment. "You son of a bitch."

He barked out a laugh at that and twisted her around, taking a hold of the back of her jeans. "Quiet girl," he led her up the stairs, hearing her give a confused sound as the door opened. "Oh don't be so surprised, after all that you have seen from me, do you really think I would open the door manually?"

She pursed her lips at that and then blinked against the harshness of the sunlight coming in through the house. It was day time. What time though? As they turned left, towards the living room, Vesta's hounds jumped from the couches and began to bark at the man that had a hold on their master. Synica growled and lurched forward but Loki sneered and twisted his right leg out. The toe of his boot connected with the dogs chest and she cried out, flipping across the floor until she connected with the couch and was still. Avery yelped and scuttled over to his mate, sniffing across her rapidly as he whined. He pawed at her chest for a moment before he slumped down and began to lick her face.

"Synica," Vesta cried out, trying to run towards her dog.

But Loki hoisted her a few inches from the ground, successfully stopping the mortal from chasing after her pet. "Nah ah ah, kitten," he purred in her ear. "We go upstairs now."

Vesta didn't protest then, she was too focused on her hounds that were on the ground. Avery looked up to his master, his deep brown eyes portraying doggy concern before he whined and went back to his mate.

* * *

Vesta stared at the bottom of the shoulder, left hand up and braced against the wall as the water ran across her tattoos. Her body was shaking but she didn't really notice. Her mouth was parted lightly, water flowing across her curved upper lip to pool against her tongue and then hit the bottom of the shower. She was still in shock. And Loki was somewhere in the house. She would have tried to make a run for it if she wasn't so shocked. She didn't know if her Synica was alive or dead; her dogs were her world, her children.

She swallowed and looked up, to the curtain, and then reached up to push her hair from her face. She had been in here for thirty minutes, twenty of it spent staring at the floor while she cried and then in silence with wide eyes. She should get out, she didn't want Loki coming in there to get her. He had been silent the walk up the stairs. He knew where her room was without having to ask. That chilled her to the bone. He would be taking Vesta back to the basement soon enough, and she didn't want to go down there. She wanted him to leave. But Vesta was no coward. She wasn't scared. She was simply anxious for this to end.

_You will die by the end…_

She froze again, fingers dancing across the knobs of her shower. She looked up and around then pushed the curtain back. Empty. She was alone. She had heard his voice as clear as day. It must have been in her head. But it rang true. He would be throwing her from a cliff when this was all over. The Queen Bee would be dead before anyone knew. Hell, they could be saying she was dead at this very moment. She reached down and turned off the water, a slight breeze wafting through the shower and cooling her before she reached out to the counter, fingers tapping against the counter, looking for that towel she had set there. She sighed. It must have fallen off of the counter. She opened the curtain, muttering curses beneath her breath until she looked up.

And she screamed.

Loki was standing there, staring at her with a sly smirk playing at his changing lips; the edges of his lips and eyes were beginning to change to a more _human _color. But Vesta didn't care about that. She whipped the shower curtain back around her but he moved it and his smirk widened.

"Come on kitten, you interestingly enough have nothing to be ashamed of."

She glared at him, scrambling to hide her shame. "God dammit…yes I do have something to be ashamed of! You don't need to see me naked, you bastard."

"Oh please," he dropped the towel onto her shoulder. "Like I would want to see your bare form, now get dressed and I will wait in your bedroom. You have some very interesting things in your top drawer."

She gaped at his back as he walked away and then wrapped the towel around her body tightly, jumping out of the shower. "H-Hey! You can't just go through my stuff!"

She stopped in the middle of her room, not seeing him anymore. What the hell? Where did he go? He was just in front of her, just mocking her, and now he was gone. She jumped as she heard a small laugh across the back of her neck. Her whole body tingle and she rolled her head around, her neck giving a few pops before she snapped back into reality and she turned around. Nothing. She swallowed thickly and ran a hand through her hair, gripping her towel against her breasts. Vesta had never been so paranoid in her life. She didn't know when he was going to jump out or anything.

He wasn't in the room right now though so she decided she could get dressed. She looked around for a moment and walked over to the small table by her bed, opening the bottom drawer and taking out a matching pair of underwear. Red. She loved the color red. She dropped the towel and put on the bra and panties, looking this way and that just in case. She bent back down to stuff a bra that had fallen out and paused, her eyes widening a little. There was a 357. Magnum sitting just under a pair of neon bikini briefs. She looked up to the door, biting her lip, and then she grabbed it up. She kept it in her hand as she went to her dresser, pulling out a pair of tight fitting, dark jean capris and a plain gray shirt.

She took a deep breath and turned around, her eyes going wide and her knees bending when she saw him standing there. His face was hard, jaw set and his eyes focused on the pistol in her hand. She raised it in an instant, flinching as she pulled the trigger. It sunk into the chest plate of his armor and he stumbled back a little. He looked up at her, eyes bright red and he charged at her, jumping over the bed easily.

She fired three times, one of the bullets grazing his right cheek but the others just went into the ceiling. She screamed as he landed on top of her, his left knee sinking into her thigh and he rammed his elbow into her forearm. She screamed again, this time in pain, and let go of gun. She watched helplessly as it slid away and then looked up to him, fear evident in her eyes. He was breathing hard, the cut from the bullet all but healed already and he took a hold of her wrists, lifting them above her head. She could feel that slimy thing tighten around her wrists and whimpered, closing her eyes and turning away from him.

"Why can't you just kill me already," she whispered.

He chuckled, his cold breath coating her neck in goose bumps as he leaned closer. He ran a finger across her jugular, purring at the pulse that thumped against the tip of his nail. "Because, kitten," his pupils dilated as a shiver rocked her thin frame. "I need a source of entertainment while I am _stuck _in this little hell hole. You are serving to be quite the play thing and I don't know whether or not I want to give you up."

She trembled again. "Just fucking kill me you fucking monster," she hissed.

"Me," he asked with a faux look of innocence on his face. He splayed a hand flatly against his chest. "A monster? Vesta darling, I know enough of you already to know that you are the pot calling the kettle black. Murdering, dealing abusive substances to the lower class? At this point, you are far worse than I," he pushed himself to his feet and jerked her to her own feet with a grip on her arm. "And try to kill me again," he leaned in close, a faint shimmer of gold rolling across his eyes. "And I just might break every bone in your pretty little body."

* * *

Shane looked up at the ceiling, hands folded behind his head as he toyed with a cigarette between his lips. It was quiet for the first time in weeks in his apartment. He didn't know what to do with it. He looked up as a knock echoed across the chipped oak door to his bedroom.

"Shane sweet heart," he could hear his mama's voice come through the grain. "Vesta's friends are here, they seem a little distraught."

Shane was on his feet in a matter of seconds. He grabbed a pair of tattered khaki shorts from the floor and jerked them on. They clung to his hips weakly but didn't fall to the floor, no matter the way he was fiercely stomping towards the Den. They were huddled around the table, Rich and Jeremy were sitting in the two chairs, chain smoking a pack of cigarettes they held to tightly in their hands. The room was buzzing with worried voices but they faded away as Shane and his mama came down the steps. Shane let his right foot hover above the floor, left building pressure on the final step. Rich looked up through his brow and set his jaw, his hand shaking as he held his cigarette above his ashtray. Shane looked back at his mama, who was looking rather confused and scared.

"Mama," he spoke gently. "Mama I need you to go back upstairs, you hear me?"

She didn't looked at him immediately, but when she did she had tears in her eyes. "V-Vesta…_mi hija…._she is dead…"

"No, no mama," Rich stood, putting out his cigarette. "It's nothing like that, just go upstairs and we will get everything straightened out, ok?"

She nodded shakily and placed her right hand on Shane's forearm, leaning in to press her lips against his cheek and then she shuffled up the stairs, letting the door click shut behind her. Shane stared at the door for a moment and then turned his icy glare on Rich, stomping towards him in anger. He had two feet on the bodyguard and more muscle mass. Shane was an intimidating man to trifle with.

"Where is she," he hissed through his teeth.

Rich let out a shaky breath. "Some fucking guy broke into the house…he _fucking disappeared _in front of us," Rich was thoroughly spooked. "He got in the basement and Vesta was so angry that we had let him get through that she went down there by herself and she got caught by him. We don't know if she's alive or what but we do know that she is in danger."

Shane couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What do you mean he fucking disappeared? Was he a magician?"

Jeremy shook his head. "He turned into nothing in my hands. One moment I had his arm in my grip and then he was gone. Poof, only without the smoke. He was _blue, _Shane. I don't know what the hell he was."

Shane almost smiled but he kept his face hard and slumped into the chair Rich had been sitting in, leaning onto the table with his elbows. "What do you mean he was blue?"

"His fucking skin," Jeremy muttered, waving a hand in front of his face. "The skin we could see was blue. And it wasn't paint. He was just fucking blue."

"That makes no sense," Shane leaned back, throwing an arm over the back of the chair. "None of this makes any sense. Are you sure all of this happened and you weren't just fucked up?"

Jeremy shook his head. "No Shane…this guy wasn't human."

Shane stared at Jeremy for a long time and then he looked over at Rich, who was visibly shaking. All of the men in the room were shaking. That sent a thread of goose bumps across his back and Shane looked down at the table in front of him. He strummed his fingers on the chipped wood, his mind reeling and flashing. It had to be true. He couldn't be human. He had caught Queen Bee. Rita. He had caught the biggest _bitch _Shane ever knew and that was impossible. Until now.

"Suppose I believe you," Shane muttered, peering at Jeremy from under his brow. "Suppose all of this is true, that you were sober and didn't just get fucked up, imagined this all and accidently locked her in the basement…what the hell are we supposed to do about it?"

"She told us not to tell anyone," Rick muttered, walking over to the table. "We're already in deep shit with her. Vesta is strong, she's a tough woman. I say we go there and wait it out, see if the bastard comes out of there with or without Vesta. He has her, we ambush. He doesn't have her, we ambush anyway and then see if she's alive. One way or the other, _he _loses."

"If Vesta is dead we lose as well," one of the bodyguards muttered.

The room grew silent again.

He was right. Shane actually thought about praying for the tattooed brunette's safety. He had grown up with her since they were young. She was like a sister to him. A sister who was the most dangerous thing around. But there was only so much she could handle on her own. Vesta may have been handy with a gun and good with hand-to-hand combat, but she wasn't as good alone. She hadn't been alone in a fight since she was twelve.

"We have to go anyway," Shane looked up. "She's my sister, I have to make sure if she is alive, she is safe and if she is dead that she gets a proper burial. We need to hurry in case he tries to run off with her."

The men in the room nodded, two or three of them – there were ten all together – hesitating and protesting. "We have families," one of them muttered. "We can't do this."

"She is your boss," Rich growled. "She is your Queen Bee, you are her soldier."

"Look, I met the woman two days ago," he shook his head. "I don't know her enough yet to protect her with my life."

Shane clenched his jaw and his arm shot out, grabbing a hold of Rich and jerking him by the hip towards him. As soon as he was close enough, Shane reached around and dug in Rich's right back pocket. He pulled out a .45 auto and raised it, pulling the trigger. No one uttered a sound as the man's body slumped to the ground, his neck _gushing _blood like a rampant river. His body convulsed on the ground and the ones that had protested with him shuffled away from the puddle his body was producing. Shane cleared his throat as he tossed the auto onto the table, watching it slide into the ashtray.

"Anyone else want out," his eyes flickered around. Everyone shook their heads and Shane nodded, pushing himself to his feet. "Then we leave right now."

* * *

_"You could at least let me get drunk," Vesta protested, watching Shane lift the bottle of Vodka to his chapped lips._

_He peered at her from the corner of his eye and chuckled, wiping the dribble of stinging alcohol from the corner of his mouth. "Hell no, you're only seventeen."_

_"So what," she griped, stomping her foot. "Just want one sip now, come on."_

_A collective chuckled went around the small group of teenage boys that had gathered when Shane had slipped out of the liquor store, the same bottle of Vodka he was sipping from leisurely tucked under his coat. They were ogling the curvy teenage girl currently trying to pry the bottle from Shane's hand. She already had a few tattoos marking up her pretty body and she was exposed; her outfit consisted of a neon green tube top and a pair of tight black shorts – her feet were bare, the sugar skull on the top of her right foot on display. She was truly a sight to behold, but none of them would try and touch her for fear of Shane's wrath on anyone trying to worm their way into his 'sisters' pants._

_Shane snorted a little, taking a hearty swig. "No, Vesta," he says firmly, capping the bottle of clear liquid. "Mama would have a heart attack."_

_Vesta grits her teeth but she understand and actually sighs, nodding. "Fine, but you owe me one wild time when I get older!"_

_He chuckled and waved a hand at her as she turns her back to him. "Whatever."_

* * *

Vesta is hyper aware, but her vision is fuzzy with blood that had dried thickly across her eyelids. She has seen her life flash before her eyes twice but she won't let him win so easily. He has disappeared into the shadows, his laughter is echoing around her, making her whole body thump with the strange baritone. Her hands are splayed at her sides, as if she is in an old gunslinger fight, ready to pull her pistols from their holsters. But she has nothing but chipped and bloody fingertips.

"Come now, kitten," his voice is brushing across her hips, making her whole body want to give and succumb to him. "Give your free will over to me."

How long has she been in here? Probably an hour or two, but it feels like eternity. She swallows thickly and stumbles back a step, the back of her ankles hitting the edge of the bottom step and she falls back. As her rear connects sharply with the step, she is sent into throws of pain. But there is something there, something cooling…no, not cooling. _Coiling. _Her mind screams at her to stand but she can't, it has her in its grip already and it was not letting go. He liked choking her, he was one of those men, the ones that liked to watch the woman squirm beneath their own hands.

"L-Loki," she chokes out, truly calling for his help.

_He _can make this stop, _he _is the one that can save her. But she doesn't want to submit. She bites her tongue as the thing loosens its coil around her throat and chest, giving her a chance to breathe and open her eyes. He is standing above her, hands clasped behind his back as he stares at her curiously. He cocks his head to the right and Vesta can tell he is becoming even stronger. His human color is coming back to his face. He will be killing her soon.

"Yes, kitten?"

His voice almost sounds innocent, like one of those men she tried to desperately to impress when she was a teenager looking for safety. But her anger wraps around her heart and her glare is deep, dark. She arches her chest towards him, eyes sparking with fury and she spits at his feet. When she looks up to him again, he is amused by her.

"Stuff my fist," she growls. 

He tsked. "Now that is such impolite language, kitten."

"Stop calling me fucking _kitten_," she growled.

He shook his head gently and then he lifted a hand, twisting it back and forth with a thoughtful look on his face. His eyes flickered over to her and then he grinned, tightening his hand into a fist. Vesta tried to scream but it came out as a strangled gasp of breath. Her back arched and her hair spilled through the gaps between the steps as the back of her head connected with one of the metal steps. It was horrible, the pained breath sounding like a horrible, scratchy, whistle. A few tears ran down the sides of her temples and her chest tightened, convulsing.

"Loki please," she managed through her cracked lips.

The grip loosened, allowing her to breathe for only a moment. He took a step up and sat beside her, reaching up and brushing the hair from her face. He ran his fingers down the side of her face, a smile twitching across his lips.

"What is it, kitten?"

She stared at him in hopelessness, hating herself, hating every thought she was having. She hated herself. She hated him. One night and two days with him and she was already loathing every ounce of his being. She reached up, taking a hold of the collar of his armor and she tried to pull herself up but she failed.

"Please Loki," she gasped. "Please let me go…"

"All you have to do is kneel sweetheart," he brushed his knuckles across her eyelids. "All you have to do is kneel…"

She didn't see the blood coming from her nose, but she could feel the thick heat and it was gliding towards her lips. "Anything," she whispered.

His lips dropped and he almost looked…apologetic. He looked across the room from where they were and he pulled his hand away from her face. He had himself propped up on his elbow, hands clasped in front of his chest. The grip around her throat was loosening, letting her breath. She shivered as she slid down the steps, her back connecting flatly with the floor. She gasped, lolling her head left to right before she closed her eyes.

"Kneel," he whispered, not blinking.

She lay there for the longest time, trying to catch her breath. Eventually she swallowed around the thick lump in her throat and groaned, rolling onto her stomach. She braced her hands flat against the floor as she caught her breath. She pushed against the floor, pushing her ass into the air.

"I can't kneel," she whispered. "I can't feel anything on me…you'll have to take a peasants bow…"

He stared at her, listening to her voice muffled by the floor and then he sighed, rocking his head around for a moment. "I will accept it…now sleep…"

Vesta collapsed against the floor, ready to do anything it took to survive. If she had to kneel, she would fucking kneel. If she had to _fuck him_ so be it. She wouldn't let him kill her. She wouldn't let herself be killed by a monster.


	5. Chapter 5

_**I am so happy for the responses I have gotten on this story. *blushes* thank you all so much for the support!**_

* * *

Suspended reality.

That's what it felt like.

Everything was there, everything was in the place it had started in, but she wasn't.

Vesta lay on her back against the cold concrete floor, staring at the wooden beams overhead with a slightly slack jaw. She felt so detached, like she was staring at herself in third person. She could feel his eyes on her, waiting somewhere in the dark corners of the basement. She hadn't moved since she had woken up, she had just laid there, not speaking as he tempted to subject her to his slick torture.

But he had stopped.

He had stopped and now he was just watching her, waiting to see what she would do.

"Please let me go," she whispered, her lips aching with a bruise.

He stared at her, anger written all over his slowly changing features, but he said nothing. She had been fun at first, a challenge, but she had crumbled too quickly. He was at a cross roads with what to do with her. He should kill her, but she wasn't serving to his desires and he figured a better torture would be to let her live the rest of her life as scarred as possible. He looked down, to the left of his waiting form, and watched the outline of that slithery thing inching towards her. His eyes flickered back to her and she still didn't move. As soon as the thing ran across the side of her left arm, he knew she was still ready for more.

Her whole body tensed, a whimper sliding from her lips, but he didn't let it coil around her throat just yet. He let it move across her arms, catch her hair, slide over her throat. And he let it stop there, lying across her already bruised flesh. And oh, how deliciously she trembled, waiting for her punishment. He hummed gently, taking a step out of the shadows, letting the darkness _drip _behind him, leaving him fully formed and hovering over her. Her eyes were on him the moment she heard the click of his boots on the floor, but he wasn't paying attention to what she was seeing. She was so full of terror, he was able to feed off of this. Whether she knew it or not, this terror was serving to heal him quicker.

Now he couldn't have that.

He reached a hand out, letting it hover over the thing lying over her throat and he pulled his hand back, forcing it to move without even touching it. Her body relaxed, but she was still staring at him with that fear in her pretty face. He needed more, her terror was too appealing for him to just let it end within the next day or two. His human features were slowly eating away at the blue layer of his heritage, making him look more and more _normal. _It was her fault this was happening so quickly.

"Your mother," he started, his voice low. "What is her name?"

Vesta's jaw trembled and then she swallowed thickly. "Can you…can you help me up first, please?"

He watched her lift a hand and it swayed there. As it went to fall to her side again, he caught it and lifted her up easily. Vesta stumbled for a moment, her hold on his hands tightening as she caught herself. She stood still for a moment, taking in a few shaky breaths and then she looked at him sideways, hesitant still.

"Maria…" she mumbled. "My mama's name is Maria."

"How old is she?"

This was calming her, talking about her 'mama'. "She turned fifty one a couple days ago," she looked over her shoulder. "Help me to the stairs, please," she had never said _please_ so many times in her life.

He nodded a little and took two steps towards the stair case, letting her go as her ankles connected with the bottom step. She slumped down and then sighed, leaning back on her elbows. She closed her eyes for a moment and then leaned forward, her right hand coming down to massage her right calf. Loki stared at her, watching the bruises highlight themselves at her manipulations.

"You said she is not your mother…"

Vesta looked up at him with a sadly submissive and innocent look. "Yeah…she adopted me unofficially when I was little. My mother abandoned me when I was seven and my father…my father wasn't my real father, he just tried to take up the slack that he couldn't. Actually, it was Maria's husband, Gerome that found me. I was living in the park, in the bathrooms, and he and Shane – their son – were walking their Doberman. He was a kind man," her eyes were a bit far off as she stared at the floor. "He died three years ago. Mama is all I have left."

Loki hated this human.

He hated her because…she understood.

She had almost the same childhood as he.

All he had was his mother and she wasn't even his true mother.

Was she lying? Did she know something? Impossible, she couldn't know anything.

"Dammit," he quipped lowly, turning his back on her. "Dammit," he muttered again.

Vesta looked up at him curiously but didn't say anything. She didn't want to make him any angrier than he already was. She wandered briefly if he was ever happy. She looked down at her leg and massaged her fingers into her ankle, wincing when pain shot through the tendons. She was covered head to toe in bruises, her whole body ached. What she wouldn't give for something illegal to kill the pain. Kill herself.

She screamed as she was jerked to her feet, his nails digging into the underside of her arm. She looked up to him, fear written plainly all over her face. His nostrils flared as his eyes flickered across her face, looking for something but not finding it. He pushed her back and she stumbled, hands waving at her sides to keep her upright. She looked up at him in confusion, not fear this time. His emotions switched too often for her to be able to keep up with her own emotions. She didn't know what to do, but her eyes wandered briefly to the door.

And he caught that.

His eyes shot through with red and he clenched his fists at his sides, stomping over towards her. He grabbed her by her throat and lifted her off of the ground, her toes dangling a few inches from the concrete. He watched her squirm for a moment before he pulled her face closer to his, air hissing between his teeth.

"Think you could leave me," he questioned in a low voice. "Think I was going to let you just leave?"

Vesta sputtered, kicking her feet, trying to find some sort of support. "I-I won't leave you Loki," she gasped. "I swear!"

He stared at her for the longest time, teeth grit inches from her nose and then his face drew a blank. His eyes bore into hers, watching the way her skin began to fade towards purple and red. His grip loosened on her throat and he lowered her back down, hearing her feet make a soft _pat _against the concrete. Her hands came up and clamped down around his, her lips trembling as she stared up at him.

"L-Loki," she whispered, thinking he was broken. "Loki say something."

He wouldn't look at her, he was busy staring at the wall, hearing boots thumping against the driveway, against the kitchen floor. Vesta looked to the door, not able to twist her head fully because of the grip he had, but it was enough. She could hear Avery barking and whimpering, hear Shane's voice bellowing through the house, calling her name. But she didn't say anything, kept her mouth shut and looked back to Loki, as if she were waiting for him to make a move.

He finally looked down at her, his hand coming down from her throat but she didn't let go of him. "Go," he murmured.

Vesta hesitated. "Come with me."

He cocked his head to the right, brow furrowing. "Why?"

Vesta didn't answer him, she just looked down at her hands covering his. Why? Well…she didn't really know. He had kept her down here for days, he had tortured her, battered and bruised her. She hadn't ate and when she had slept it was either leaning against a wooden post or on the concrete floor. But, even through all of the shit he did to her, she couldn't just go up there and act like he was never there.

"You mother fucker," she glared at him. "You mother fucker, I actually _like _you."

It was his turn to glare. "What the hell do you mean?"

She took a step back from him, letting go of his hands. "I…I like your psychotic ass, you fucking put me in Stockholm Syndrome you son of a bitch!"

She charged at him. Vesta reared her right arm back, letting her fist shoot forward and hit against his jaw. He actually stumbled back, reaching up to rub the spot she had hit. He stared at her in shock, amazed that she would actually do something. In truth, it shouldn't be a surprise. The first day she had proved she was a fighter but he didn't think she would actually hit him. He didn't think she _could _hit him.

"And what was that for," he asked in an astonished tone.

She narrowed her eyes. "You did this! You made me actually entertain the thought of caring about you! _I like you Loki!_"

What had she said, Stockholm Syndrome? What was that exactly? He thought on it, trying to remember when he had heard about that and then it popped up. Stockholm Syndrome, she had grown to be fond of her captor. In two short days? Perhaps to her, it felt like much longer. Either way, she was unreasonably angry with him.

"And the downside to that is…"

She screamed and launched herself at him again, going for the throat. But he side stepped her and she fell to the ground. She didn't stay down long. She rolled across the floor and then crouched down, launching herself at his back and forcing him to his stomach.

"You fucking made me like you," she just couldn't stop repeating it, even as she took a hold of his hair. "You fucking made me like you," it was more of a sob now, her lower lip was trembling. "Fucking…You fucking made me like you…"

He didn't move, he kept his eyes down. Her grip loosened on his hair and her body began to tremble. She let go of his hair and stared at the back of his head, her eyes brimming with tears and then she let out a small sob. She slumped forward onto his back, folding her arms over her head as she cried. How the hell could this happen? Perhaps she was acting too crazy about this, but she didn't want to care about this man. She didn't even think she was trapped with him long enough to start this shit. And now, she couldn't think of letting him go, she couldn't think of just letting him slip away.

"You're staying," she muttered firmly, sitting up and wiping away the tears.

His eyes snapped open. "Excuse me? Who do you think you are, commanding a God like me to stay where I do not want to be?"

Vesta grit her teeth and took a hold of his hair, lifting his head up and lowering her lips to his ear. "You are going to stay, end of story," she ground out through her teeth.

Was it wrong of Loki to be insanely aroused by this? It was. It was wrong on so many levels, but he couldn't help the rumble in his chest. She pushed his face down abruptly, fingers coming loose from his hair and his face connected with the concrete. But he wasn't fazed, not until she stood above him, anger plain on her face. Her chest heaved with a large breath but she didn't let it go. She turned to the stairs, jogging up them and she placed her hands flat against the door.

"Shane! Shane I'll be out in a minute!"

"That fucker still down there?"

She looked back at Loki, who was pushing himself to his feet rather slowly. She sighed and looked back to the door, closing her eyes. "Yes."

"I'm gonna fuckin kill him."

"Does he really think that?"

Vesta jumped and twisted around at the sound of his voice. He was so close to her, squishing her against the wall and her heart was racing. "H-He does."

Loki shook his head, raising an eyebrow to the claim. "I have bad news for him…"

"Don't you do anything," she hissed. "Just unlock the door and I can handle him."

"I doubt that."

"I handled you didn't I," her voice shook slightly.

He peered down the bridge of his nose at her and then nodded. "Alright, I will open it. You go first."

Vesta nodded this time, hearing the gears creak apart. She watched him disappear right in front of her, reaching out to run her hands through the speckled mist she had encountered on the first day. As she was bathed in light from the hallway, she looked up, squinting and seeing Shane ready with a shotgun. He looked angry, angry and tired, just like the others behind him. Vesta looked around to the familiar faces, feeling out of place somehow, and then she cleared her throat.

"Hey guys," she muttered, stepping up into the hallway.

The group of men back up in unison, Shane reaching out and taking a hold of her right shoulder. "You ok?"

She stared at him blankly for a long time and then nodded, jaw slack. "Uh…Y-Yeah, I'm ok, but I have a stipulation with him and you guys have to hold up with it."

All eyes narrowed. "Vesta, are you fucking kidding me?"

Vesta shook her head, nudging Shane's hand from her shoulder. "It's a long story," she sighed. "Just don't…don't try anything, ok? I'm not allowing him to leave right now. He's a part of the family…until I decide I am through with him."

She could almost hear the growl down below but she kept her attention focused on Shane. He was looking at her like she had lost her mind, and in a way, she had. She liked the monster down in the basement, she wanted him to stay for as long as possible. He looked over her head, towards the darkness and wandered what had happened down there to make his Vesta so compliant. He looked back down at her and then he noticed the bruises. They were all over every inch of her exposed skin, mainly her throat.

"Hell no," he growled. "That mother fucker did something to you, I won't let him live."

"Yes you will!"

The group went quiet, eyes widening at her display of ferocity. Shane looked back to the men, they refused to look up at him. He looked back to Vesta. "Why?"

She shook her head and pushed him backwards, away from her. "Because I said so," she turned around. "Loki! Come on!"

Shane's eyes flickered to the figure that slinked up the steps behind Vesta. He was taller than Shane, but he was thinner. His clothes were strange and if this situation didn't call for a tense atmosphere, Shane would have laughed at him. But the look on Vesta's face told him he needed to keep quiet. She would probably shoot him right now.

She took in a breath and then looked up to Shane, her expression blank and tired. "Alright, I'm going to sleep in my bed," she glared at Loki. "You're coming with me, we need to have a talk."

Loki was not pleased with her words, but he nodded anyway. It was amusing to watch the men part for her, like they were a part of some old film. Vesta huffed and pushed past all of them while Loki just sauntered through them, making eye contact with each of them. Humans were like dogs, if you made eye contact it meant more than they would, or could, say. He could feel the tension and burst egos he left behind him, and that just made his ego inflate. As they passed through the living room of Vesta's home, she made him stop to approach her hound that lie on its side beside the couch. She crouched down and ran a hand across the dogs muzzle and it whimpered, its eyes opening and looking up to Vesta.

"She was just protecting me," Vesta muttered.

"Oh well," Loki hummed, walking over to the bay windows.

Vesta glared at him. "You will fix her."

He didn't look at her, he continued to watch a pair of larks twirl around each other. "And now why would I do that?"

"Because you are," Vesta stood. "Now come, I want to discuss something with you before I pass out."

He turned to her, raising an eyebrow and then following her up the stairs. She shut her door behind them and then she just…stared at him. Loki stared back, unfazed but wandering what was causing those wheels to turn in her head. She was thinking hard about something. After another moment or two, Vesta took in a breath and pushed off of the door. She walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge.

"I…" she hesitated. Her eyes drifted up to him, seeing as he was ridiculously close to her now. "I want you to stay."

"You have already made that point clear," he bent as far as he could, eyes boring into hers. "But what is in it for me?"

Her lips parted gently and she licked her lips. "Whatever you desire."

Now that was ridiculous, Loki almost desired everything. He straightened his back and looked down at her, raising an eyebrow after a moment. He hummed and turned his back to her. "Whatever I desire," he could almost see the fires burning in front of him. She couldn't give him that, but she could give him everything she had. Power. Status. Money. Slaves. "What do you think it is I desire?"

"Someone to dominate, for starters," she muttered, eyes sad. "But you seemed bored with that…I can provide power, wealth. But you're a God, you're used to more extravagant things, am I correct?"

He hummed again and then grinned at her. "You are correct but," he turned, taking a step towards her. "There is nothing you can give me that will make me stay permanently, like you are trying to get me to do."

Her lips quivered. Why was he doing this? Did he understand how badly she now needed him to stay? If he did, he didn't care. Why should he, she was just a fragile mortal with a forced infatuation. "I can't have you leave," she whispered. "Not now, not for awhile. Not until I can find something else that will take away any desire I have for you to be near me."

"You are far too used to getting your way," he watched her lie back on the bed, her eyes closing.

She shook her head. "You followed me up here, didn't you?"

Loki said nothing to that and continued to watch her as she drifted away. He approached the bedside, staring down at her with mute disgust. He could hear the men shuffling around in the kitchen. He could hear them trying to decide on what to do. Loki would make sure they did nothing to come up those stairs. Mortals disgusted him. He reached out though, running a thumb over a deep bruise he had left on her throat. That was something he enjoyed, perhaps he could think on this a little more.

She could not help him watch Asgard burn.

She could not make him king of Midgard or of Asgard, of any realm.

Perhaps…perhaps she could do other things.

That was it.

He grinned slyly, pressing down on the bruise until she gave a subconscious gasp of pain and then his eyes almost sparkled. "You will still be able to please me, kitten. Even if you do not fight…"

* * *

**_I don't know, I'm thinking of changing this to an M rating, what do you guys think?_**


	6. Chapter 6

_**I'm not sure if I should still or not. The story will be dark but I don't think it should be forced into M for a few chapters. But like I said, it's still a debate.**_

* * *

_It was so cold, just so cold._

_Vesta curled her arms around herself, trying to warm a spindly thirteen year old body with nothing more than a sweater. It wasn't helping her any. She rested the side of her head against the wall, closing her eyes and humming under her breath. She was so tired, but she couldn't sleep because of the non-helpful sun. It was shining through the open door and it was bathing to bathroom in its bright light. But it wasn't hot. It didn't help her, no matter how long she stayed in its light._

_Her ears twitched when she heard a male voice coming closer. Her whole body tensed and she scrambled to her feet. But there was nowhere to hide. She went to the left of the door, bracing her back against the wall and hoping they wouldn't look in here._

"_Rachet, Reduza la velocidad monstruo…"_

_She bit her lip when she heard a dogs claws clicking against the pavement just outside the door and then she heard the water fountain kick on behind her. _

"_Think Mama will want us to stop by Ray's?"_

_Her attention was drawn to the sound of a younger man. The water fountain cut off. "I'm not sure, probably should have asked her."_

"_Rachet, what the hell are you doing?"_

"_Shane, language."_

"_I just said hell."_

_Vesta's thin legs trembled as a large dogs snout came into view, inching towards her foot. Of course that was her luck. She would get outted by someone's dog. It only took the owner of the dog to notice her and when he did, Vesta scrambled towards one of the stalls. Maybe she should have hid there first. Silence swept through the room, save for the subtle click of Ratchet's claws on the concrete. Shane and his father approached the stall, their shadows stretching through the bottom gap and causing the little girl a lot of a stress._

"_Hello?"_

_She shook her head a little, shuffling between the commode and the wall. "Go away."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because I said so."_

_She heard a chuckle and that just made her heart race even more. "She's a feisty one."_

"_Now don't scare her, Shane," a faint knock came from the stall door and Vesta trembled. "Come now little one, we won't bite. What is your name?"_

_She hesitated and then swallowed thickly. "V-Vesta, my name is Vesta."_

"_Well, Vesta, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Gerome and this young man beside me is Shane, would you mind coming out here for us?"_

"_Why?"_

"_So we can help you, obviously. Why are you here? I'm sure your mama is worried about you."_

_Vesta felt tears prick at the edges of her vision and sniffed. "Mama don't care, mama left me 'ere."_

"_How old are you?"_

"_Seven," she shuffled. "And a half."_

"_Vesta, would you please step out here, now that we know each other a little better?"_

_Vesta stared at the chipped paint of the stall door, pinching her fingers together in front of her and then she bit her bottom lip. They were strangers, they were strange men, she shouldn't just be so willing to open that door. But she took a few steps towards the door and then she flicked the lock back. When she opened the door, she didn't realize how tall the men were and she had to admit, she was intimidated. _

_The man, Gerome, smiled down at her and then crouched, balancing his elbows on his knees. "There, now was that so hard," she just stared at him, not saying anything and then Gerome looked up at Shane. "Think we can take her in?"_

_Shane stared at her for a long time, not answering his father for a long time. This girl was tiny, she was pretty in an odd way but she was nothing but another mouth to feed. He looked down to his father, brow set heavy and he shrugged. "I don't think so, but mama would love her."_

_Vesta's eyes flickered between the two men in front of her. She was still scared, but she had a feeling that these two men were…good. Gerome shrugged himself and then he looked back to Vesta, smiling. "You don't have anyone else?"_

_She shook her head. "Franky isn't my daddy…and I don' know where he is. I think he left with mama."_

_Gerome nodded and then reached over to pat the Doberman named Ratchet on the head. The dog yelped and licked at his hand, jumping onto his feet and licking Vesta in the face. She giggled and held her hands up, trying to fight away the dog but not really. She loved dogs._

"_Then it's settled, we take you home," Gerome stood straight and held a hand out to her. "You ready?"_

_Vesta's wide eyes went up to Gerome, her small hands landing on either side of Ratchet's muzzle. He grew still as well, tongue running over her fingers as he licked his chops. She looked at Gerome's face and then his hands, her fingers shaking and then she swallowed thickly. Vesta lowered her hands and then wiped them on her pants, reaching her right hand up and placing it in Gerome's. His fingers curled around hers and even though her shoulders tensed, Vesta felt calm for the first time in awhile._

* * *

Vesta opened her eyes to a dark ceiling.

She blinked a few times, arms stretching out to the sheets and then she pushed herself up, rubbing at her eyes with her knuckle while she held herself up with the other hand. What time was it? Her bedside clock was gone so she couldn't tell, but the moon was high outside and a faint light was coming through the clouds. She blinked a few times and then wiggled around to the edge of the bed. Her feet pressed flat against the floor and she stretched her way to the bathroom.

After she was done in the bathroom she walked back into her room cautiously, her heart racing gently. Where was Loki? She jogged over to the door and pulled on the handle, her heart dropping for a moment when it wouldn't open. She tried again and then it opened and she gave a long sigh of happiness. The house was cold and quiet, no lights on. She paused at the bottom of the stair case, fingers lingering on the end of the railing when she spotted the faint glow of green coming from the other side of the couch. Vesta swallowed and walked over towards the couch, her lips pursing when she saw Loki.

He was on his knees beside Synica, his right hand running over the dog's broad chest while Avery sat beside him, whining softly. There was a soft green light coming from the palm of his hand and his face looked bored.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare or are you going to speak," he muttered calmly.

Vesta's eyes flickered to his face and then she looked back down to his hand. She walked around the edge of the couch and sat on the cushion, Avery coming around to her side. "I…thank you."

"I didn't do it for you," he looked up at her briefly and then he looked back down. "She would not stop her incessant whining. It was becoming quite aggravating."

"Kept you up?"

"I wasn't asleep," he grumbled.

Vesta nodded a little and then looked down as the light faded. "She ok?"

He nodded and pushed himself to his feet. "Of course she is, do you doubt my abilities?"

Vesta sighed. "No," she stood then, biting her lip for a minute. "Are you hungry?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, looking as though he was contemplating _eating._ "I suppose so."

Vesta smiled at that, her chest warming. "I can cook."

"What can you cook?"

"Fish maybe?"

He hummed, nodding a little. He watched her almost skip past him, headed towards the kitchen and he decided to follow her. But not before giving the hound at his feet one last look. Her hazel eyes were staring up at him, actually accusing him and Loki turned his nose up, walking towards the kitchen. She already had everything she needed out on the counter, already had a pan on the stove and Loki hated how normal she was acting.

"Um, do you know what time it is," she mumbled, back to him as she held a hand over the pan, searching for heat.

He stared out the window above the sink, seeing a bat or two flutter past the window. "No."

She curled her lips inwards and then turned back to the island, grabbing a piece of half frozen fish and then she dropped it into the pan. It sizzled slightly and Vesta nodded to herself, turning back around and grabbing a lemon. As she cut it in half, she stared at Loki from under her brow. He was facing away from her but she could get a view of his jaw line and had to admit, it cast a rather handsome shadow. Vesta bit her tongue hard at that thought and then turned back around to the fish, squeezing a half a lemon on the flaky flesh. No, bad Vesta, thinking of him in anyway other than an asshole.

But he had helped her dog, just like she had told him to do.

And, sadly, nothing turned Vesta on more than a man who helped an animal, no matter the circumstances.

Was he telling the truth when he said it was just because Synica's whining was getting on his nerves? To Vesta, it seemed to be a lie. Wouldn't he just kill the dog? He seemed like the type of monster to do that.

"Your men are outside."

Vesta swallowed through the thick lump in her throat and reached over, pulling a spatula from the hanger on the road. "Oh really…"

He looked over at her, raising an eyebrow to her back as she flipped over the piece of fish. "You do not sound enthusiastic."

Vesta shook her head. "I'm not," she muttered. "But I suppose I should go sort things out with them. Do you mind?"

"No, they are becoming quite bothersome, take care of them and send them away."

Vesta's shoulders dropped. "Are we ever going to leave the house?"

"When I say we can, we will, until then obey me and things will go smoothly."

Vesta hated him.

And then she hated herself for thinking like that.

Her fingers curled tightly around the handle of the spatula and then she breathed out deeply. She reached up and opened the cabinet, pulling out a plate and she scooped up the fish. She dropped it onto the plate and then grabbed another piece of fish, repeating the process until she had two plates fixed. She set one plate on the other side of the island and then set another in front of her. She watched Loki examine the food with critical eyes and she placed both hands flat on the other side of her plate.

"Um…I guess I'm going to go talk to Shane and them," she walked around the island. "Eat."

He growled at her but said nothing, simply watching her turn and walk down the narrow hallway leading towards the front door. Vesta didn't realize how cold it was outside until she actually stepped _outside_. A shiver ran through her and she wrapped her arms around herself. There were six cars parked in perfect alignment in her front yard, each of them having their doors closed. She looked around to each of them and smiled when she saw the blue Explorer she had grown so familiar with over the years. She jogged towards it, pressing her hands flat against the driver's side window and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Shane bunched up behind the steering wheel. His knees were braced against it and he had his arms crossed over his chest. He had his head leant back and he was snoring rather loudly.

She pulled her fists back and then slammed them hard against the window. Shane jumped and pulled a gun from his hip, pointing it against the window. Vesta smiled and waved, her brow curved in happiness.

"Shane!"

His eyes widened and he stuffed the gun back into his waist band. Vesta took a few steps back so he could swing the door open and scoop her into his arms. "Vesta," he breathed into her hair. "I-I thought you were dead. I thought he killed you."

Vesta smirked over his shoulder and braced her hands against his shoulders, pushing back. Her eyes twitched over his face. "You should know better than to have such thoughts about me. That just hurts my pride."

He smirked then and let her go, taking a step back. "You're right…you're right," his eyes flickered over her head when he saw something in the top window. It was him, that fucker that kidnapped Vesta in her own home. He was staring down at them with a placid face. Shane clenched his fists at his sides and looked back to Vesta. "What is with you making him stay? Is he holding something against you?"

Vesta shook her head immediately. "No…no, I told him to stay. Of my own free will."

Shane's mouth went dry. She wouldn't look at him. She was covered in bruises from head to toe. She wasn't as fiery or angry as she was just a few days ago. "What did he do to you?"

She finally looked up at him and Shane saw nothing of the girl he knew in her. She looked tired, she looked over worked. She looked plain exhausted, fed up with everything around her. She sighed and reached a hand up, brushing a strand of hair from her face. Her hands retracted behind her back and she clasped them there.

"He…I don't even know," she closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't know, but I do know…that I need him to stay just a little bit longer, just until I get some things in order," her lips twitched towards a smile. "I think he can become an excellent bodyguard until I get some things under control."

"So what, you just want to send all these men home," Shane gestured to the cars lined to the right of his. "Vesta, they're going to be pissed."

She shook her head, opening her eyes to show Shane some of her was left. It was that authority burning in her eyes this time, not submissiveness. "They'll do whatever the hell I tell them to do. If they don't want to, then I can line up a firing squad like they did way back when. Think you can tell them that?"

Shane almost grinned and nodded softly. "Alright…alright I can do that," he hesitated and then reached out, clasping a hand on her thing shoulder. "Stay safe."

Vesta nodded. "Tell mama that I love her and that I'm ok, I don't want her to worry."

Shane nodded and then he watched Vesta walk back towards the house. He waited until the door was shut to look back up to that window. When he did, that man, Loki as Vesta had called him, was gone and the window was covered with a curtain.

* * *

"What...how did you get stuck in my basement?"

Loki looked to Vesta's reflection in the window. She was slouched on the couch, staring at the ceiling with an obviously bored expression. His eyes went back to the sun coming through the hills and he sighed, reaching up to wrap a hand around his own throat. Where to begin…

"Where I come from…" his lips twitched and he grinned over at her. She was unnerved by the display of white teeth. "I have a lot of people after me."

"And…"

Loki looked out the window, pursing his lips gently. "And, one of them found me," his eyes slightly clouded over at the remembrance. "I made him quite a beautiful piece of artwork for the royal guards to find."

Vesta's skin erupted in goosebumps. She pulled her legs up under her and rubbed her hand flatly over them prickly surface. "What'd you do?"

He shook his head. "Even you wouldn't want to know..."

She bit her bottom lip. "Fine…"

The silence was an agonizing thing. For some reason, when they were trapped in that basement, Vesta hadn't minded silence. But right now, her skin was crawling at a rather dangerous pace. She knocked her head back and closed her eyes, wanting to go back to sleep. She thought on the things she wanted, needed, to do in the outside world. She couldn't do this. Vesta sat up straight, planting her feet flat on the ground and she stared over at Loki. She noticed his eyes flicker to her in the reflection of the window.

"I can't do this," she stated simply.

"You will do what I tell you to do."

She shook her head. "No, no I won't…listen Loki, I have a life outside of these walls. I have debts to collect, people to find and I have to pick up pay. At least let me get some of that done. You can come with me, only if you want to."

He turned to her, angry. "I told you we would stay here as long as I deemed fit and I have not told you that it is time to leave, now have I?"

Vesta resisted the urge to roll her eyes and stood. "Loki, just let me do this alright. You may even get to kill some humans, wouldn't that please you?"

Loki shrugged. "I suppose so."

Vesta smiled. "Then let's go torture some people," she just wanted to get the hell out of the house for awhile. "I said I would give you...whatever you desire, I know you desire death so I can give that to you. Whatever you want."

She had the ability to give him whatever he wanted. Loki's eyes ran over her and he actually thought on it for a moment. This arrangement may eventually turn into something rather pleasing. He could do what he wanted, whenever he wanted to without catching the eye of human police. He wasn't afraid of going to jail or anything, he just simply did not want to be _bothered _by the filthy little things and if he decided to murder every officer that came to him, it would leave an obvious trail. Loki had to think about his hidden status.

"Fine," He waved a hand. "We will leave when you are ready. I presume you are driving?"

Wow. Vesta blinked. He was...rather compliant with this. She supposed the enticing prospect of murder really caught his attention. And that, sadly enough, made Vesta grinned. "It seems we have something in common after all..." she muttered.

"And what is that?"

She shrugged a little, turning his back on him as she ascended the stairs. "We like to kill people. It's not much, but it's a start."

* * *

_Ugh, did not end this how I wanted to but it's better than before I edited. Sorry if there are any grammatical errors in here, I didn't have a lot of time to proofread so I really just skimmed to put in barriers and stuff. R&amp;R please.  
_


	7. Chapter 7

Vesta stared at the mirror in front of her, lips pursed as she held her hair up with her hands. She just didn't know what to do with it.

"I say shave it all off."

She glared at Loki in the mirror. He was standing behind her, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. Vesta dropped her hands into her lap, eyes narrowing further as she heard something lightly buzzing in her ears. If the air wasn't so quiet, she would have never heard it. It would have just been another noise in the flow, but this was just too annoying.

"What the hell are you doing?"

His face feigned innocence. "Whatever do you mean, kitten?"

She wanted to cut his throat into a PEZ dispenser. "That, that buzzing in my fucking ears. What are you doing?"

His brow furrowed. "You hear it?"

Vesta nodded. "It's annoying."

He stared at her for a moment longer and then pushed himself away from the doorframe, swaying towards her. "Human minds are so easy to infiltrate. Though, if they are smart like you apparently are, they are able to pick up minor differences in their perception of reality."

"You're reading my mind."

He grinned. "Yes."

Vesta sighed. "Of course you are," she muttered, looking back to her own reflection in the mirror. "You are a very annoying man, you know that?"

"It has become somewhat of a specialty of mine."

Vesta bites her tongue and closes her eyes, breathing in deeply before she opens those eyes again and she stands. When she turns to him, she sees his face snap to angry. He had a passive look on his face for a faint moment. Vesta stared at him blankly for the longest time, obviously agitating him. But Vesta didn't care right now, and she knew she was pushing the envelope with his patience but she couldn't help but stare at him.

He was beautiful.

"Are you sure you want to go with me."

"Trying to get away from me, kitten?"

She clenched her hands at her sides. "Stop calling me kitten."

"Does it aggravate you?"

"Incredibly so."

He waved a hand at her and then turned to the door. "Let us leave, now. I am done with waiting for your physical appraisal. Why would you even need such a thing?"

Vesta growled and followed behind him out the door. "Because maybe I don't need to look shitty when I go out to do my business," he hummed and once they reached the bottom of the stair case, Vesta jumped in front of him. He looked genuinely startled but his mask was back just as quickly as it had left. She pointed at him with both hands, eyes cold and serious. "You cannot talk to me when we go out. You cannot mess with the façade when I am in business mode and you cannot interfere, even if you are telling me anything. If that kind of thing happens, I will lose any of that fear that I got and I will go on a rampage. My reputation is everything and I don't need you ruining it."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You are becoming quite bold."

"I am high on the fact that you are allowing me to leave this home. Though it is mine, I could think of so many places I would rather be than here. I would rather be in jail right now."

"Prison does not seem like a desirable place."

Vesta looks away. "It does when I've been trapped here with you."

The silence grows thick and Vesta dares to look up at him. For a moment, he is apologetic, and then he looks away from her. He looks away just as she does and Vesta's eyes widen. She stares at him with an almost hopeless look in her eyes and then she reaches out to him. She reaches out and her fingers hesitate against his chest plate. Her eyes run over that armor, settling on the detail and the scratches. He had been injured, she knows that. And she actually feels bad for him. She actually feels bad for the son of a bitch that has inflicted these injuries on her.

"I hate you…" she whispers. He looks back to her, opening his mouth to speak but she didn't give him a chance to speak. "I hate you just…so much. I wish you could just leave."

"I can leave when I want to."

Vesta shook her head and she finally met his eyes. "No you can't," her lower lip trembled. "You can't leave me, not until I am done with you. Not until I have gotten over you."

"You make it sound like you have some sort of contract to me."

Vesta took a step forward. She took a step forward and his eyes widened as she reached out. Her arms wrapped around his torso, actually reveling in his cool touch and she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, smelling something strange and she would be a liar if she said she didn't enjoy it. She hated herself for touching him. She hated herself for hugging him and needing him but she couldn't stop this.

"You should at least be man enough to pay for your mistakes," she whispered. "If you would have just let me go, I wouldn't be begging you to stay, I wouldn't be touching you. I would have told you to just leave and I wouldn't give an honest damn if you fucking left," she tightened her arms. "But I…in a sick way, I love you. In a sick way, I don't want you to leave me and I will do whatever it takes to keep you in my life for as long as it is necessary."

She hated how strong the words were. She hated how desperate she sounded, begging him to stay. She just wanted him there, at her side, until the day she looked over at him with indifference.

"You should not hate yourself for something so simple…"

Her back laced with tension. Right, he could read her fucking mind. "Yes I should, because you are a monster."

"You are stated a known fact and it is aggravatingly repetitive."

Vesta shrugged and then turned away from him, still feeling his chilly aura on her. She grabbed her bag from the counter and continued to walk, holding the door for Loki. He raised his nose at her as he passed, not even thanking her and Vesta had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping at him. He could at least have some manners, even if he was an asshole. But really, could she tell him that? No, no she couldn't.

* * *

Vesta didn't want to drive, but she didn't really have a choice after having sent her driver away like Loki had ordered. It was like he was a possessive boyfriend and that just pissed Vesta off to the max. She hated having a short temper, it made everything difficult. But right now, she had to be level headed. As she pulled to the curb in front of Shane's apartment, Vesta had her eyes locked with the small gaggle of men loitering around the front steps. They weren't paying attention, they didn't care, they knew Vesta's car, but they didn't know Loki and that had Vesta on guard.

"I'll let you out of the car," she muttered. "And you won't fight me on it."

"You are testing my patience, mortal. These orders are beginning to grate my nerves and I am tempted to remind you who is in control here."

Vesta waved her hands at him a little. "I would think you would like me pretty much waiting on you, hand and foot."

He stared at the men to the right of the car, eyes flickering around dangerously. What was he seeing? Vesta stared at him for a long time, hearing someone calling her name but she couldn't exactly pin point where it was coming from; she was too focused on Loki right now.

"What is it," she questioned after a moment.

He didn't answer her right away, and after awhile she didn't expect him to. But then he turned to her, his eyes far brighter and a deep crimson. Her skin erupted into a flurry of bumps and she curled her fingers tight around the steering wheel. "Something is not right here," he looked back to the door. "I do not feel comfortable entering this place."

"You shouldn't really," she chewed on the tip of her tongue. "But I've never seen you unnerved, you look really stressed out right now."

He said nothing to that and it made Vesta even more disturbed. She cleared her throat and then opened her door, stepping out into a strong gust of wind. Her bangs whipped around her forehead and she hurried to the other side of the car, smiling and waving at familiar faces that looked confused as to why she was opening a door. She didn't wait for Loki to step out, she just stepped to the side and pulled a cigarette out from her pocket, lighting it with a relieved sigh. Ah, nicotine. She didn't think she had smoked a cigarette since she met Loki. Perhaps that was what was wrong with her, quitting cold turkey tends to affect the nervous system, the logical side of the brain. Maybe she should chain smoke an entire pack of cigarettes, perhaps she would come back to her senses.

She looked over at Loki as the door snapped shut and saw him as calm as ever, face placid and indifferent. She gestured for him to follow her and he did so obviously reluctantly, listening to her heels clicking sharply against the concrete steps. No one stopped to question the strange presence at her back, no one knew what to do. It wasn't like anyone _never _followed Vesta, it was what you did with the Queen Bee, but her opening a door, the strange armor, the strange intensity between the two of them, it was enough for one to take pause.

As they entered the kitchen, Vesta saw Shane seated at the small kitchen table, chewing on a thick piece of meat. He looked up when he heard her heels and almost smiled, then his face drew a blank. He looked sick today. His eyes were blood shot, sunk back in his skull. His lips looked horribly chapped and pale, cracked beyond repair. Vesta hesitated, wrapping her arms around herself while the cigarette burned in her hand.

"Where's mama," she asked, looking back to him.

He hesitated, eyes never wavering from Loki. "I sent her back to papa's earlier…I didn't want her here if you brought him over here."

Vesta's expression wavered. "Wh-What?"

He nodded and pulled the meat from his lips and dropped it onto a small plate. "I didn't want her here, I didn't want her to get hurt in case he couldn't control himself. I saw what he did to you and I don't like it."

Vesta wasn't concerned about that, she actually stepped back to Loki, wanting him strangely closer. "How could you do that to me, Shane? You couldn't even let me say goodbye?"

"I figured it would be better this way."

"For who Shane," she placed her free hand firm against her forehead. "Why didn't you just…you could have got her call me! You could have just done that for me!"

Shane shook his head. "Vesta, calm down. It's not like you'll never see her again."

"You don't know that," she whispered shakily. "What if I get shot? What if…" she looked back at Loki and saw some sort of sick sympathy in his green eyes. She looked back to Shane. "How can you do this to me, Shane? She's all I had."

"You have me, Vesta," Shane's brow was set firm.

Vesta shook her head fiercely. "No, no I don't. I don't _want _you in my life because of this," she shook her head again, turning back to Loki, eyes down on his boots. "I would rather…I would rather be trapped with Loki for the rest of my life."

"You probably will be kitten," Loki purred, looking over the top of Vesta's head and glaring at Shane. "I may be cruel, but even I would never stoop so low."

Shane shot to his feet. "Oh, but you'll beat the fuck out of a woman? What the fuck are you?"

Loki didn't miss a beat. "A God."

Vesta's eyes shook and she looked up at Loki, seeing him still as calm as he was before they stepped into the apartment. Shane was no threat to him, Loki was a threat to Shane. Vesta reached a shaky hand out, taking a hold of Loki's arm and he looked down his nose at her, that sneer of his beginning to shine through. She shook her head and wet her lips.

"Don't do anything, please," she whispered.

Loki looked down at her fully, a look of disbelief on his sharp face. "He separates you from your mother unwillingly and you do not want me to punish him for it," Vesta shook her head, mouth numb. "You are a very confusing mortal."

"What fucking _hold _do you have on her," Shane hissed, stepping around the table but going no further as Loki's green eyes shot through him.

"She is mine, human," Loki sneered. "She knows her place as you should know yours."

Vesta looked back at Shane as he opened his mouth, her right hand still firmly wrapped around Loki's arm. She raised her left hand, catching his attention. "Shane, I told you that he is not leaving," she said firmly. "Your threats and your misbehavior will have no effect on him or me so please…I came here to see you and mama but she isn't here anymore," Vesta's numb tongue rolled behind her teeth. "And you Shane, you need rest."

"I am fine," he ground out through grit teeth.

Vesta shook her head. "No you're not, Shane," she gestured to him. "You're pale, your thin, your eyes are red and your lips are purple. Sleep and then maybe we can fight later…" she looked to the door, seeing a few onlookers lingering. She narrowed her eyes. "Back to your posts," she snapped.

Their eyes widened a fraction and they dispersed, muttering amongst themselves. Vesta sighed and wiped at her forehead. She was so drained; physically, emotionally, mentally, she couldn't do this much longer. She looked up at Loki, saw his eyes still on her and gave him a weak smile, for what reason she didn't know. As she looked back to Shane, she could tell he was contemplating her words, her reactions.

"Three days and I'll be back," Vesta nudged Loki towards the door. "Don't try to come for me, Shane. I don't know if I can forgive you so easily for mama."

He said nothing, even when Loki narrowed his eyes. He couldn't even muster a reaction. His eyes were focused on Vesta's hand, that had managed to worm its way into Loki's palm. And he wasn't pushing her away. He wasn't showing anything but indifference to the fact that she was holding his hand. Something in the back of Loki's mind screamed that he should let her go, but the look on the mortal in the kitchen's face was just so delicious he couldn't help but let her fingers linger around his.

* * *

_Shortest chapter I've had since the beginning. But I figured that was a good place to stop off in this chapter. I may not be able to update as regularly as I have because the battery in my laptop burnt out and we have to get a new one buuut we're a little short on cash for the moment. I can use the computer, but it has to stay plugged in and I can't do anything for long because it gets way too hot._


	8. Chapter 8

_**If it weren't for FloodFeSTeR I possibly wouldn't have made it through these chapters or even the past few days. She is such a supportive friend and a talented writer. On another note related to her, she has dedicated a board on Pintrest to she Has Nightmares - her name on there is Flood Ware for those interested.  
**_

_**Warning (s): This chapter is very much rated M for more than one reason, but it is rated M for things other than torture and murder if you catch my drift – I have never written something like this, so ya know. Oh, and as I am doing on my Star Trek story, I will be naming the songs I am listening to while I type just so you guys can get an idea of where I am going. **_

_**Song: **__Follow You Home by Nickelback. Goodbye Apathy by OneRepublic. Better Than Me by Hinder._

* * *

They sat in the car for a long time, Vesta slow smoking a cigarette that was held in her shaky fingers. Loki stared ahead out the windshield, not growing impatient in the least with Vesta's silence and paused attitude. But he wanted to go, he wanted to push on through this day and get back to the actual comfort of her chilled home. It was the perfect temperature, keeping his skin from clamming up, his armor from getting too tight.

He looked over at the young, tattooed, woman shaking in the driver seat and ran his tongue over his bottom lip. "Drive."

It took her a moment, but eventually she looked over at him, breath billowing from her nose. Loki huffed and reached over, taking the cigarette from her hand and he flicked it out the cracked window. She looked at him as though he had committed some travesty, as if he had assaulted her again. The idea made him purr.

"What the hell is wrong with you," she snapped, starting the car.

"The smell is disgusting," he scrunched his nose. "The odor clings to everything. My throat is sore."

Vesta furrowed her brow. "Sorry," she muttered. Her fingers flexed around the steering wheel and then she peered at him out of the corner of her eye. "Thank you," she muttered.

"Hmm," he hummed, resting his elbow against the door, his chin leaning onto his knuckles.

She looked forward again. "For what you did back there, it felt like I wasn't alone for the first time in a long time."

She spoke so lowly, so weakly, it was beginning to bother Loki. The fire he saw in her from the beginning was what had entertained him. And now it was ebbed away somehow, perhaps by his own hands. He looked over at her eyes flickering around that pretty face and her marked arms. He looked forward then, teeth grinding the tender skin of his cheek in aggravation. He did not want to acknowledge what had happened back there, but she was not letting this go so easily.

"I know what it is like," he muttered, teeth grit around the words. "To have your mother taken from you, I know what it is like and as I said, even I would not wish that upon anyone."

Vesta's heart skipped a beat and she smiled a little. "What was your mother's name?"

He was silent for a long time and then he peered over at her once more. "Frigga…"

Vesta smiled at im fully then, easing onto the brakes at the stop sign. He froze at the sight of her lips curved up so high. "That's a beautiful name."

"It was," he murmured.

"Was?"

"Enough," he quipped, feeling a brick falling but he caught it and put it back in its place. "You promised me homicide and I intend to get to it now drive."

She did as she was instructed, her lips pursed gently. He was keeping a wall up, and Vesta, being stuck in a hopeless loop of obsession for him, wanted to break it down. His mother seemed to be a soft spot, she could play that to her advantage.

She hated those thoughts, the ones where she thought of him in any other way but a captor of torment. She was waiting for him to attack her again, it was making her paranoid. She was already conditioned by cruel hands.

Vesta had come to the sad fact that she was utterly fucked after meeting Loki.

* * *

Same warehouse.

Same blood stained concrete.

Same cracked parking lot.

Same guards hiding a secret.

Vesta stepped out of the car, opening Loki's door and approaching the guards without even a hitch in her step. This was her element, this was an arena she could fight in. He would not have any control over her here. Sadly, Vesta enjoyed murder as much as he did, and that made some sick feeling twist around in her gut. She didn't want anything in common with him, and yet at the same time she wanted to have everything in common with him.

She paused in front of one guard, she believed his name to be Richard, and looked up at him. "Who is it today?"

"Guy named Dermont," he spat. "Shorted Clark on his supply, had half of it stuffed up his nose by the time he got to Orlando. Clark sent him back in a small box, we left him in it," he held out a crowbar. "Here's your welcoming banner."

"Thanks," she took the crowbar from him and looked back at Loki, snapping her fingers once as his attention had strayed to the skyline. "Come on, as I promised."

A smiled, a genuine smile of blood lust, and he followed her through a small opening made in the door. There, in the middle of the empty space, was a rather small box, as promised. Vesta looked back, watching the warehouse doors shut, and then she approached the box. Loki kept his place by the door, watching his kitten circle the box like a vulture claiming a carcass and then she hefted the crowbar above her head, slamming the flat end into a small crack. She didn't even break a sweat snapping the wooden panel off of the cube and a man tumbled out.

He gasped for air, fingers digging into the concrete as he scrambled for a way to stretch his legs. Loki watched in amusement as Vesta dropped the crowbar, not even flinching as it clattered loudly around them, and she stomped to her victim. She raised her right leg and slammed her heel down onto his back, eliciting a strangled gasp from the man's flushed lips. Her face was dangerously placid, anger radiating through her eyes.

She knelt down then, right knee raised well past her ear as she leaned into his. "I am so sick of this shit," she spat. "Third time you've done this shit, vouched for your innocence the first two times. Think you can make me look like a jackass in front of my clients, huh?"

He sputtered, looking up to Loki with fear in his eyes, but Loki was grinning at the display. "I-I'm sorry, Queen," he looked back down to the concrete. "It-"

"Don't say it," she growled, pushing herself up, using him as a prop with her heel.

He screamed into the concrete, blood blooming across his back. Vesta looked to Loki, who was utterly transfixed with the sight before him. Oh, how he loathed mortals, but his kitten was a fine specimen, the top of the food chain in this set of vermin. And she was doing a fine job at her position. Loki looked to her when he heard a few smooth clicks and saw a shining gun in her hand, watched her load three bullets into it and slam the cartridge back into it.

"Ever use a gun, _my King,_" she let the two final words slide from her tongue, her own mind lost in adrenaline.

He could get used to her being this way, maybe he wouldn't dispose of her as he previously thought to. "If given the chance, I am sure I can perform accurately with it."

"So, what do you want to do then," she gestured to the filth staining her shoes. "We don't have time for torture, unless you want to beat him. Or we can hang him, watch him squirm. Either way, it is your choice."

His choice? Oh they were delicious choices. Loki grins devilishly, beginning to circle the filth trying to scramble away still. He looked up at Vesta as he made it around and his face drew a blank. She was crying. Her face was blank as she adjusted the sight of the gun, but there were tears running down her face. It was like she didn't even notice them. It was far more tears than he had seen with their time together.

She looked up at him, wondering why there was nothing but silence, and she saw him staring at her. "What?"

"You are crying."

Her eyes widened a fraction and she turned away from him, hands coming up to wipe at her face. She held the gun behind her back, raised towards him. "Here…t-take it if you want to."

He stared at the back of her head for the longest time, his mind reeling with strange thoughts and then he stepped around the writhing man, taking the gun from her hand. He points it at the back of the victims head and pulls the trigger, a loud pop going through the hollow room as blood splashed across the concrete, the body going limp. Loki turned back to Vesta, sliding the gun into the back of her jeans and he took her hand.

That made her look up, her eyes wide and confused, full of tears and puffy. He shook his head and pulled her towards the back of the warehouse, a familiar tingle going through his body and radiating through hers. It made her panic for a moment, but as she saw that green light shine through his right shoulder Vesta had an idea of what was happening. And he had to be moving for it to happen.

She closed her eyes, tears gushing out from the pressure onto her tender cheeks, and she could _feel _her body being pecked away. Piece by piece, feel her feet leave the ground just to be placed, one after the other, on another solid surface. As she opened her eyes, she could only see out of one, but she could see the window in her living room and then she could see all of it as the sight in her other eye came to her. She blinked a few times, lips parting with a breath she had been subconsciously holding, and she looked to her left, seeing her dogs staring at them like they were just as confused as she.

Vesta looked to her right, seeing Loki standing there, his hand still holding onto hers firmly. He was staring at the floor, his face warped almost into anger. Vesta looked down at their hands, her body tingling at the contact and she feared the feeling going through her. She feared it far more than she feared him, because it was _because _if him. She looked back to his face, seeing him staring at her and her lips parted gently, a shaking breath going through her teeth. Her fingers tightened around his and she jerked on his arm, forcing him to follow her as she grit her teeth and started for the stairs. She was crying again, her fast paced descent up the staircase making the tears splash across her face, and then she slammed her fist against her half open door.

The oak door swung open, the handle smashing into the wall and almost breaking the drywall but Vesta was too busy with forcing Loki towards her bed. He looked genuinely confused and innocent then, and she hated that look on his face as he landed on her bed.

"What do y-"

His words were cut off as she swung her legs around his hips, straddling his thighs and she tightened an arm around his back, forcing his lips to hers. It was like a fever spreading through her body, and her free hand was shakily undoing the buttons on his Midgard clothing. She pulled away from his lips, her tongue running over her lips, trying to take in his flavor as much as possible before she finally gotten the last button undone on his shirt.

"Please," she whispered huskily. "Just shut up and fuck me."

He did not understand the concept of the word 'fuck', but as her fingers slid into the hem of his slacks, Loki found the gist of it and his eyes clouded over. But they were no rival to the smoke in her eyes and Loki reached his right hand up, threading his fingers tightly through the hair on the back of her head and he ground her lips against his enough to cause a bruise. Her hands went down, nearly ripping the belt holding his pants on and she pulled it through the loops, throwing it over her shoulder and she reached for his shirt.

He pulled her head away from his, his lips fastening to her throat as he kept her head back. It was like grabbing a cat by the nape of their neck, her body froze under his will. He lifted his lips from her clavicle after giving it a fierce suck, his breath wafting over her now wet skin. "Just like my good little kitten," he hummed, making her body shiver at the feelings it caused through her.

His fingers of his free hand wormed against the button to her jeans and the button popped away easily, the zipper giving little resistance as he forced his fingers into her fabric. She whimpered as his fingers pressed against her, finding no resistance to the presence of underwear. She never wore them. Her body felt light as a feather as she pushed his coat and shirt from his body, the scarf the last thing to go before he twisted them around and her back was pressed flat against the bed. She sat up quickly as he peeled his body away from hers, hands ripping the clothing from her body before she reached for him again, wanting to feel his cool skin against her feverish flesh. But he raised a finger, a taunting smile on his lips as his eyes were secured to her breasts.

The reasoning behind his attraction to the gently rippling flesh was not because of their designation as breasts, but they were covered in the same tattoos that stemmed from her arms. The designs overlapped fiercely; monsters, dragons from every culture, banners of words in more languages than one, the occasional painted face of a Geisha and many more things. Loki found himself wanting everything to do with her body. Every curve, he wanted to touch, examine. He wanted to know every patch of ink covering her, if there was more than what his eyes were consuming now. He wanted to touch all of her, every facet of her body was his to play with.

"Loki," her voice was low and pleading, just like a submissive beast.

His eyes flickered back to hers, his lips curving more in the corners, like a Cheshire grin instead of anything human. For a moment, Vesta remembered that he was dangerous. That he was a God. That he wasn't just some man she brought home from the bar, that he wasn't a boyfriend she had known, that he was nothing more than her captor she was beginning to obsess with.

"Oh kitten," he purred, climbing on top of her again, forcing her back into the sheets as she slid her jeans from her body. "I do enjoy the way you whimper my name."

He took her lips in his, causing her eyes to flutter closed. Her heels dug into his thighs, going slightly slack from their task of pushing his slacks off of his body. But she finally managed to get that final article of clothing off as her hair fell across his coat that was beneath her head. His lips trailed from her throat across her chin, his teeth digging in harshly when he made it to her throat, no doubt drawing blood by the way she all but screamed when he reached the hollow of her throat. As he reached her clavicle again, he took the thin layer of skin between his teeth and used as much force as he could muster, pressing down on the flesh until it popped and his teeth clicked together, the tang of blood washing over his tongue and stinging his teeth.

Her nails dug into his biceps, her chest arching against his, her whole body prickling in bumps at the feeling coursing through her. She had never been the most innocent lover, but Vesta was no noob when it came to fucking and this was something she had never experienced before. His hands were gentle, calculating, but his teeth digging through her skin was something else entirely. It wasn't even harsh, it was words she didn't even know.

Her eyes shot open, her mouth popping into a rather weak O as the fingers of his right hand slipped between her folds, teasing her entrance and making the river flow between her legs. Her thighs shook as if adrenaline were coursing through her but she knew it was just pleasure. She gave a few, small, weak, grunts as he pulled his fingers from her, slamming them back into her with enough force to cause a tingle of something akin to pain to go through her pelvis.

Her hands moved up to his hair as her body rocked against his, fingers gliding through his hair as his lips and tongue snaked down to her breasts, taking her left nipple into his mouth and suckling gently. It made her body feel like it was ready to explode, like she was on the edge of the abyss and she was about to take him with her. She didn't realize how much pleasure he gained from torturing her so. It made him feel more powerful than he had in a long time.

Her teeth grit and then her fingers went slack in his hair as a heat spread across the back of her neck, an unbelievable orgasm rocking her body. His walls clenched rhythmically around his fingers, trying to hold onto him as long as possible, but he pulled away just as she was reaching the peak of a second orgasm and it made her almost angry. Her eyes opened – when had she closed them? – as something wet pressed against her lips. It was his fingers. He slipped one into her mouth, eyes glazing over as her tongue caressed the digit, eyes locking with his. He pulled the finger from her lips, his own tongue running up the side of the other shining finger and then he kissed her hungrily again.

Her hands stretched across his back as he thrust his hips into hers, sinking himself deep into her. He wasn't anything truly special, but it was enough to make her have him pause as he stretched something inside of her that had never needed to be stretched.

"Oh fuck," she threw her head back and he attacked her throat again; it seemed to be his favorite thing to do.

His hips pulled back from hers sharply and collided rather swiftly with hers once again, over and over, making her gasp and stretch beneath him. She pressed the right side of her face against the left side of his, her lips ghosting against his ear as he inhaled the scent of her shampoo. Her grit his teeth as she clenched herself around him, trying to take as much of him in as she could, almost succeeding if it weren't for the fact he had bottomed out from the beginning.

His lips hit her ear lobe. "Say it," he whispered with an airy breath, hips thrusting into hers sharply, faster and faster. "Say it for your King," the blood on his lips streaked across her throat as he dropped his head, eyes closing at the pleasure rippling through his back.

"Loki," she panted.

"Louder," he grunted, the fingers of his right hand curling tightly in the sheets.

"My King, Loki," it was a moan, her body shuddering. "My King! Loki! Loki!"

He ground his forehead into hers as she came, hard, around him, taking him over the edge with her. He didn't seem to care that his weight was crushing her as his body went slack, but she didn't mind either. She was already having a hard time catching her breath, she could hold it for a little longer. Her arms stretched across his back again, fingers gentle as she coerced him to lay at her side; she shivered as he peeled his sweat drenched skin away from her own. He collapsed in the sheets beside her, jaw slack within a matter of minutes after she had done caught her breath.

Vesta swallowed and looked to him, eyes running down his slender frame, the coat bunched under the both of them, and she eased out of the bed. She grabbed his shirt and haphazardly threw it on, her right shoulder exposed, the fabric causing a horrible chaffing against the wound he had given her on her clavicle. She didn't bother buttoning it, she was in her own home, she could do as she pleased. But when she reached her kitchen she tried to at least try to button a few of the buttons around her waist.

She pushed her hair back from her face, knots formed in the back of her head because of his tight grip, and she opened the fridge. She was hungry now. Sex always made her ravenous and that…that was more than sex. She didn't know how to describe it, she just knew she had never felt so damn good in a long time. Maybe it was because, in the back of her slave-induced obsession, she had gotten something she wanted from him. Vesta had always been good at that, getting what she wanted. And starting from her little problem with wanting him here, she got something from him and it made her feel like she had some sort of control.

She pulled out a plastic container of strawberries and a half of a cantaloupe, placing them on the island while she retrieved a glass bowl and a sharp knife. As she sliced through the weak flesh of the strawberries, she began to hum, trying to distract her thoughts from the way Loki's body had been pressed against hers. It was making her hand unsteady and these knives were very sharp.

"_Stranger than your sympathy  
I take these things so I don't feel  
And all these thoughts from the inside out  
Now my head's been filled with doubts"_

She bobbed her head slightly, moving the cantaloupe as she caught the rhythm in her head; it had been a long time since she had listened to the Goo Goo Dolls.

"_It's hard to lead the life you choose  
All I wanted  
When all your luck's run out on you  
All I wanted  
And you can't see when all your dreams are coming true"_

She jumped as she cut into her finger, muttering a few curses beneath her breath as she hurried over to the sink. She turned on the water, sticking the finger beneath the rush of warm water and she reached for a paper towel. She pulled her finger from the spray and wrapped the paper towel around it, watching the blood flush through the paper and then she pulled it away, finding the blood flow has ceased. Vesta nodded to herself once and pushed her matter hair back again, grabbing her bowl of fruit and a fork before she walked into her living room. Her hounds were still lying on the floor where she had left them and Vesta remembered that dogs need to eat.

After setting up their food bowls in the kitchen she plunked back down on the sofa, noticing a lot of her fruit was missing. Or was it? It wasn't like she counted every piece so she just shrugged it off and turned on the t.v., setting it on low so as to not wake Loki.

"The missing bodies of two women were found this morning, in a construction site just on the outside of the city. The first body found was that of a thirteen year old young woman named Sydney Powell, her mother, Clair Powell, was the second body to be identified. In a related matter, two counties over the body of an eight year old boy named Joseph Powell was found hidden inside of the back of an old Dodge Challenger. The husband, Carlito Powell, is presumed to be the murderer but no evidence against him has been found yet. He has not been found since he was seen outside the police station of Cooke County earlier in the week. More updates as the case unfolds."

"Your small army is very resourceful."

She didn't even jump at the sound of his voice, she was too engrossed in the strawberry seed she was currently trying to pop between her teeth. "I expected you to be asleep longer," she muttered, eyes fixated on the television screen where the commercial for a mattress store was currently flickering.

"I expected the same, but I noticed the bed was far too cold for my kitten to be there."

She shivered, but her face never changed. But she heard him chuckle as her face heated up and his cool fingers swept across the back of her neck, chilling the feverish skin. She bunched her shoulders up, closing off her throat from his access. But that didn't stop him from forcing his lips against her flesh.

"Mortal, you dare act as though you do not want me to touch you," he breathed.

Her resolve was slowly crumbling, but her fingers tightened around the edge of the bowl in her lap. She wouldn't…oh _God _how was he doing that with his tongue? She closed her eyes and hummed, craning her neck for a moment but he pulled away, making her feel like she had been tricked.

She cleared her throat a little. "Loki…what are your plans?"

"Hmm," he hummed from behind her.

She rolled her eyes a little, looking up to the ceiling slightly, but not behind her. She knew he was naked, she didn't need anything else that might make her pounce on him again. "You know what I mean dammit," she plucked up a piece of fruit, quickly nabbing it between her teeth. "I know you won't stay here for long," that made her heart drop. "And I know I won't be enough to satiate your attention for much longer. You will leave and…and I'm just curious if you have a plan."

"Hmm, for the moment I am just gaining pleasure from toying with you," his fingers brushed the back of her head. "When I am through here, I have not thought so far. For the most part I am running and that will take up more time than I like to admit."

"Running," she rolled the word around on her tongue, brow furrowing as his fingers threaded through her hair. "Can I ask from what? I mean, I did just fuck you and everything."

"That means nothing to me kitten," the words were strangely bitter on his tongue. "But I will tell you that I have caused more than a few problems in my life time and my brother, Thor, is very intent on catching me. They have an entire team of humans and beings from my realm after me."

Wait… "Thor?"

"Yes."

She looked up at him then, her heart hammering in her chest. "Holy shit, your brother is Thor?"

He was growing irritated and his brow twitched. "Yes kitten, what about the oaf?"

She couldn't believe this. "If I can get you to him, will you stay? Will you stay with me for as long as I need without protest?"

Her eagerness and want of his presence was making Loki more and more curious. He had never had someone, be them God, Goddess or mortal as she was, want to be at his side more than she did. This Stockholm thing must have more of a hold on her than he previously thought. She was obsessed with his permanence with her.

"How could you get me to him? And why would you want to?"

She twisted around, knocking the bowl of fruit onto the floor, and curled her knees up under her, fingers curling around the back of the couch; her hounds jumped to their feet, slurping up the fruit and juices from the bowl while Vesta smiled at Loki.

"The way you talk, with such venom, it can only be a desire for vengeance," she grinned. "And that just happens to be one of my many specialties."

He reached up, taking a thick lock of hair between his fingers, rolling it between his still moist fingers. "And?"

"And I have connection, I know what's after you, S.H.I.E.L.D. right? Shane has a brother named Richard, he isn't close to anyone but mama and I, if I tell him what's going on – the gist I mean – he can get us to Thor whenever the opportune moments arises and you can do what you please."

Now that…sounded positively _delicious_, even more so than her tender skin. He cocked his head to the right, mulling those words over purposefully slow, and then he smiled. He leant forward, catching her lips with his own. She squeaked and threw her arms around his neck, feeling his fingers undoing the buttons of his shirt she was wearing. She pulled away from his lips hesitantly, her eyes fluttering around his strangely serene face. Her hands jerked away a little and then she made him sit still, her fingers running across his face. He looked so much…younger, when he was calm. He looked almost like a boy. He didn't look as dangerous, but the open wound near her throat made his danger factor very concrete in her mind.

"You should look like this more often," she murmured.

His face changed then, back to sharp and scary. "You have no right."

She smiled a little, not at all put off by his attitude. The reaction she got meant it was a defense. "Loki, I had a bad day. Shane took away mama, I probably won't see her again – either for awhile or never again. And then I realize that I am in love with a vicious stranger that could crush me in one blow," her lips twitched in her sad smile. "And then, you don't let go of my hand, not once but twice and then…whatever that was upstairs, was far more than just sex. I can feel that in my heart, and I haven't felt that damn thing beat in almost seven years," she ran a hand over the top of his head, seeing his eyes full of honest curiosity but defense. "Face it Loki, I know you already."

"You know nothing of me," he tried again, this time it sounded more like a plea for her to stop. "You know nothing of what I have done, what I could become."

Her face drew slack and she shook her head. He was pleading with her, trying to get her to be quiet and just be the submissive creature he was training her to be just so he didn't have to talk about stuff like this. Emotions, physical contact of the kind type, clashing so harshly with the vicious and destructive nature he wanted to keep himself cloaked in.

"I don't care," she leaned forward gently, reeling him in with her lips that slid across his forehead. "I will love you, I don't care what happens. Even if this is an obsession, an unwilling force, I will love you until I can no longer stand you."

Loki stared at her chest for the longest time, the top of her tattoos peeking over the edge of the collar, and he closed his eyes, feeling her arms circling his back again.

* * *

_**Well, turned into more emotion than I really thought I was capable of at this point but you guys get the gist – I am using that word way too much today, but it fits where I use it every time – of what's going on. Vesta is becoming obsessed with Loki. There was a song I referenced at the end here:**_

'_**You know nothing of what I have done, what I could become.'**_

_**The song is by JJ Keller and I recently found it on Facebook and it blew my mind away. It is a generally religious song but take out the notion that it is God speaking in some parts and replace that with the voice of someone like a mother or lover that will love you unconditionally and you have a love song that fits both Loki and Vesta respectively and made me cry.**_

_**Please tell me what you guys think, first 'intimate' scene – seeing as I hate using the word sex for some reason – and I want to know if it was ok.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**After all of the emotion poured into the last chapter, I was truly stumped on how to start this chapter. **_

_**NEWS: I am starting an actual novel. Right now it's 12:34 p.m. 5/17/14 and I wrote the first few paragraphs of the actual story about an hour ago. Wish me luck on this guys! **_

_**Song: **__So Far Away, Staind. Enough For Now, The Fray._

* * *

He hated her.

He hated everything about her.

Loki stared down at the sleeping face of Vesta, her bare body splayed flat on her back, right hand curled beside her face while the left hand was curled in the sheets near her hip. He cocked his head to the right and reached over, running his fingers over the ink pattern on her breasts. He pulled his hand back as though he had been burned and turned, leaving the room. As he reached the living area, he grabbed the glass bowl she had dropped a mere hour ago and threw it in the sink, managing to not shatter it.

It felt good to be back in his armor instead of human clothing or being nude. He felt more powerful, more in control. In that bedroom, she had far more control than he liked. He stood in the kitchen, looking around slowly for any signs of nourishment for himself but he saw nothing.

And then the phone began to ring.

It was what he guessed was her cell phone, sitting on the edge of the counter. He raised an eyebrow and approached the device, taking it in his long fingers and he looked at the screen. A single word was typed on the screen and beneath that a reject and take image. Mama. Her mother, or not, was calling her. At this hour? He peered at the stove, seeing it was nearly midnight. How long had they been hold up in that bedroom? It hadn't seemed like long but apparently it had been.

He set the phone down and raised an eyebrow as lights flooded across the ceiling; they were bright, coming from the narrow hallway leading to her front door. Loki raised his chin a little higher and approached the door. There was a familiar car idling in front of the house and Loki grimaced as the human stepped from the driver's side. He still had no common decency, still flaunting about in nothing but underwear.

Loki opened the door and then snapped it shut behind him, glowering at the mortal. He stopped in front of Loki, his chest heaving and face set in anger. "Get out of my way, I have to talk to Vesta."

My, it was an exciting night, now wasn't it?

"I am afraid I cannot allow that mortal, see she is asleep and if you wake her I believe she will be quite angry."

"Get the fuck out of my way."

He was testing Loki's thin patience.

"I said I cannot allow this," the bliss of pleasure was leaving him quickly. "I suggest you turn around, get back in your vehicle and leave. She does not wish to speak to you, even if she were awake."

"Who the fuck do you think you are, huh," Shane spat at him. "Her fucking owner? What the fuck are you holding over her head to make her so compliant?! Why the _fuck _are you even here?!"

"I believe I am her King," Loki growled at the mortal. "She does as she is told, it is time for you to begin to do that same. Leave."

"King," Shane scoffed, letting out a string of mute curses covered by a twisted cackle. "You think you're a fucking _king_? God, you're more delusional than I thought."

"I am _her_ King," Loki emphasized. "She made the title quite clear after I took her to bed."

Fire lit through Shane's eyes and he clenched his fists at his sides. "You fucked her?!"

Loki shook his head. "Such foul language, but she uses it as well. Tastes better on her tongue. I believe it was 'Just shut up and fuck me," Loki shook his head again, waving his right hand in a small circle. "Just doesn't sound the same, do you know what I mean? I wish she were here to say it, I rather like it in her mouth. Of course, that isn't the only thing I would like in her mouth."

Shane growled and launched himself at Loki, who dodged his bulk rather easily. Loki twisted around, his left boot coming down on the back of Shane's neck and he kept it just heavy enough to not crush his wind pipe, but get the message across. Loki chuckled as Shane struggled. Pathetic mortal, so easily swayed into battle by a few simple words.

"You two were rather close," Loki mused, a bitter taste in his mouth. "And then you send her mother away from her, what a despicable thing to do."

"You're the fucking reason," Shane huffed into the dirt, sand coming up from his nose.

Loki shook his head. "I would never harm the woman, as I will not harm Vesta. The principles still apply."

"You wouldn't harm her? You fucker, you kept her locked up in a basement! She's got bruises all over her and she's begging you to stay with her! You're not a king, you're a monster! A fuckin monster!"

"I believe she and I have already had this conversation before. You are stating the obvious. Now, when I let you go I expect you to stand, return to your vehicle and drive away. Understand?"

Silence.

Well, not true silence. In the distance, Loki could hear a man and a woman arguing, a buzzards cry of glory at a carcass he could smell, the brush of wind against the hills near Vesta's home. But to the men, there was nothing but silence between them. And that aggravated Loki. Why? Because he acted the same as Vesta had in the beginning, defiant and ignorant, but Loki had broken Vesta, he could break this simple mortal man.

Loki leaned further towards Shane, eyes on the door, half-expecting Vesta to come out, to stop him immediately. "Understand," he drug the word out slowly, his breath making the hair on the back of Shane's neck stand on end.

Shane grunted, trying to push up but it was like the guy weighed a ton, there was no budging him. For a moment, Shane believed his words, that he was a God, a King, and then his rational side scoffed and Shane shook his head. "Fuck off."

"You two are disgustingly alike, that disgusts me but it solves the problem."

Loki reached down, fingers wrapping around Shane's throat and he removed his foot. As soon as his foot was gone, Shane tried to push himself up, but Loki grinned as he did nothing but struggle. Ignorant humans. He lifted the mortal to his feet and then some, watching in amusement as Shane's feet kicked at air. He looked up into cobalt eyes, a twisted grin on his face that had Loki feeling muscles move he had never felt before.

"How I love the torture," Loki hummed. "But, you are nothing compared to her. A mere ragdoll stuffed in the corner. She is the torture I desire," Loki growled and outstretched his arm, sending Shane flying back towards the ground. He connected painfully, a strangle gasp coming from his lips and Loki just stared at him. "Now, get in your vehicle, drive away. Do not come back until she says she wants you here. If you come unannounced again, I will kill you."

* * *

The bed was far too cold for Vesta's liking.

She grumbled gently, breathing out a heavy sigh from her nose into her pillow and then she opened her eyes. She just got a face full of black hair, and Vesta didn't have black hair. She pushed back and sat up on her arms, staring at Loki as he had his back to her. He was so pale. And what was that? Vesta hesitated for a moment, knowing by instinct that it wouldn't take much for him to wake up, but she just had to…touch.

She curled her legs under her, cocking her head to the right and she reached out, fingers touching raised skin. It was like…like he had been struck with a whip. Thin slices across his back, a few giving hint to a deep wound. Vesta swallowed slowly, eyes flickering to the back of his head as his skin tensed. And then she bit her tongue and moved the sheets back, exposing his lower back and more scars. There were few across his arms, they had been covered by armor.

"How many scars do you have," she whispered, her hand running flatly in a circle on his lower back.

He didn't speak and Vesta sighed, running her hand up to his right shoulder blade, eyes seeing more than she knew he ever wanted her to. This would cause a hit to his fragile pride, his strange ego. But she had to, she had to touch him. She had to touch every part of him, even if that meant he would hurt her.

"More than you can count," he muttered.

Her eyes widened on the back of his head, fingertips dancing across the slope of his shoulder. She hadn't expected an answer. She licked her lips and moved closer, her chest pressing against his shoulder and she rested her chin on what she could of his arm.

"This'll be over soon," she muttered. "But thank you for letting me enjoy it while I could. It is a privilege than I know may never rise again."

Stroke that ego. Stroke it with a down blanket.

"Wise words," he quipped.

She hated when he did that, when he took a good moment turned it to shit. She wished she could hit him, punch him, slap him, connect her fist to any part of him but that was a waste of time. She instead of doing what she wanted, Vesta did what she needed to do and that was take a shower. She left the bed, entering her bathroom and shutting the door. She stood still for a moment, staring at the tiles under her toes, and then she turned on the shower.

Vesta was tired.

She didn't want to get up, she wanted to stay in bed and sleep until…until she didn't know what she wanted to do anymore.

He had stopped her from doing business yesterday, she needed to get out there but she couldn't go alone. She couldn't go alone, speed through it like she wanted to do because he wouldn't let her. Would he?

"Yes."

Vesta jumped and looked over her shoulder. How had he gotten the door open without making a sound? Fuck it. "Excuse me?"

He wouldn't look at her and his jaw was set in anger. "I said yes, you can go alone today."

Had she heard him right? "You're not joking…"

His eyes snapped to her. "I if I have t-"

Vesta threw herself at him, arms tight around his neck. His hands came down on her sides and he tried pulling her off, but it didn't work. She was smiling. She let out a small giggle as his fingers dug in too hard on her ribs and then pushed back from him, still smiling. He didn't look angry, he looked very, very confused. And that made Vesta smile even wider.

"I'm sorry," she cleared her throat a little. "I just…thank you."

He stared down at her with intense eyes and then swallowed slowly. "We both have things we need to do separately today," he muttered. "It is logical."

Vesta nodded. "Right, right. Well, I guess I'm gonna shower now. Thank you again," she smiled slightly and then turned around.

She turned on the water, testing it with her hand before she climbed into the shower and let her hair soak through with warm water. It felt good after lying in bed with someone that had the temperature as an ice cube. She blinked the water out of her eyes and looked down at her hands. They were shaking violently from excitement and she couldn't keep the smile from her face. He was letting her go out alone! She couldn't help it, she just couldn't keep from being excited. But she wandered what he was going to do today. She wondered why he was just willingly letting them go separate ways for today.

She jumped as a cold hand pressed flat against the small of her back and whipped around, seeing Loki standing above her, his face placid and almost bored. "L-Loki? What are you doing?"

"I figured it was fine if I showered with you."

His compliancy and lethargic movements made Vesta worry but she didn't question it yet. She smiled and nodded, reaching up to place a hand flat against his chest. Scars. He was covered in scars. She pursed her lips and looked up at him, his face twisted into some sort of discomfort.

So she pulled her hand away.

Vesta didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable, not when he was being so nice.

She would wait until she got home to him.

* * *

Vesta had friends.

She had girlfriends and boyfriends.

And Damien was the perfect mixture of both.

The coffee shop was sparsely filled when she walked in, eyes canning over the head of far too many beanies before she found a mop of multicolored hair settled in the corner of the room. She smiled and adjusted the strap over her shoulder and weaved around the small tables. Vesta was never a fan of coffee shops. Too many faces, too many strangers, but Damien loved them. He loved the atmosphere and the smells. Vesta enjoyed the smells as well. She would have to drag Loki here.

Now why was she thinking about him when he finally let her go?

_Because I am your King…_

She paused halfway to the table, eyes wide and her nostrils flaring. She looked around slowly, not wanting to make a scene by freaking out like she wanted to. She had just heard him. "Loki," she whispered, too afraid to talk inside her own head.

Nothing but silence.

She swallowed and then looked back over to Damien, who was staring at her with a confused look on his pierced face, chin resting on his left hand propped up on the table. "Sweetheart, you ok?"

Vesta shrugged and sat down in front of him, paranoid and looking around. "I um…I'm not sure."

Damien raised a perfectly plucked black eyebrow. "Alright then," he smacked his lips a little and closed the magazine in front of him. "So, I heard that you were running around with a hotty with strange clothes?"

Vesta chuckled. She could…she could talk about Loki all day. "No…no he's not hot really, very handsome though. He has black hair and the clothes he wears aren't weird, not to me anyway."

"Of course not, not when you're in love," Damien wiggled his eyebrows.

Vesta rolled her eyes but a small smile played in the corners of her lips. "I wouldn't really call it love, but whatever. He's not really that nice."

"So it's an abusive relationship."

"It's not a relationship, Damien," Vesta shrugged. "Sort of like…fuck buddies with violence that, I have to say, I think I enjoyed. But he did scare me once."

Damien shook his head but then smiled. "Can't judge, Cory is kinky like that," Damien giggled when a man in a ratty suit looked at him strangely. "Likes for me to choke him, fuckin weird but I love him."

Vesta laughed. "He might be the same, but the opposite."

"Well do you like him choking _you_?"

Vesta stared at Damien for a moment and then shrugged. "Don't know, just…we fucked last night and it was the best sex I have ever had in my life."

Vesta loved Damien because she could speak to him far more honestly than she could to anyone else. Damien had been her biggest supporter most of her life.

They talked for an hour, ordering three cups of coffee a piece before they left the coffee shop and wandered down towards main street. Their arms were linked and they talked loudly about all kinds of things they shouldn't. This was a good day, this was a very good day.

Until she heard it again.

His voice.

His tickling, stinging, pleasurable voice.

_Radiating are we? Never seen a human like that, strange, like a Pavo._

She didn't answer, but she did begin to look around while Damien was prattling on about a new thrift shop on the corner of Dalin and McCormick. Her eyes flickered around to every window, every ledge and for a moment, swore she saw him on the top of the Barnes &amp; Nobles ahead but as she blinked, the blot was gone and they were alone. Well, sort of. Alone from whatever that was anyway.

"Vesta, are you listening to me?"

The young woman blinked and looked over to Damien, who looked fabulously concerned. "Sorry," she sighed. "Just distracted today is all. What were you saying?"

Damien huffed and tossed his hair over his shoulder, bringing them to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk. People grunted as they had to maneuver around them. "I was talking about Cory's birthday party. He said he wanted you to come this year."

Vesta immediately shook her head. "Nope, nope, nope. I don't do parties you're lucky I even came into the public today. I've just…I've been so busy the past few days and you both know how I feel about parties. Could be enemies there."

Damien got a rare serious look on his face. "Vesta, you don't have to worry about that. We know all those coming."

"And if someone brings a surprise plus-one," Vesta shook her head, the wind carrying her hair around her shoulders. "I just don't want to do it, alright? I can come by after the party is over."

Damien sighed and they began to walk again. "Fine, but you're bringing this mystery guy with you."

"I don't think he would want to."

"Don't care what he wants, anyone that sounds this hot has to be in my house. Now, don't forget about us Saturday. The party should be over around three so no worries."

Vesta nodded. "Alright honey…alright."

* * *

Ethereal.

It meant heavenly, out of this world.

And the woman, or rather demon, standing in front of him lived up to her name sake.

He smiled wickedly at him, her lips curling back to her ears as she reached long fingers to his right shoulder plate. Her long raven hair skittered with insects and her eyes were bloodshot, ravaged by the mortal drugs running through her system. Her teeth were long, overlapping her jaw and her voice was gravely, making Loki feel far more bored than he had in a long time. Her voice made him want to sleep, but that was the effect she had on many she met.

"And you come to me for this," she hummed, the valves on her chest sliding open and then closed as it rumbled. "I accept."

Loki nodded once. "As I knew you would, but the stipulation is that she is not harmed."

"Yes, yes I understand this. When do you believe you will encounter he and Mjolnir?"

"I have no set point, but you will know. I have others to send a message. Now, I must take my leave."

Ethereal watched him walk for a moment, his boots crunching the glass beneath his feet with steady steps and she lifted her right hand up and rubbed at her left shoulder. "How can I trust you, Loki Odinson?"

He stopped and looked back at her. "Laufeyson. I am Loki Laufeyson, though the name is a cruel one, it is far better than Odinson," he grimaced and began to walk again. "And you cannot trust me in words, a back to you is proof enough to my promises. Now, as I said, I must leave."

She watched him until he blended with the shadows and called a courier to her side, the demon hunched and pale of face, golden irises glowing bright with veins. "You will follow him, you will make sure he holds his end and does not plan to betray us. If he does anything stupid, you kill her. Understand me?"

The little creature nodded and hobbled away, Ethereal's eyes narrowed into slits before she turned grandly, her long crimson dress gliding around her as she made her way back to her boudoir.

* * *

_So, what chu guys think? I have had a lot of fun writing chapters with Ethereal, she's fun. I may post her picture on my profile, but it's undecided._


	10. Chapter 10

_**Vesta and Loki's relationship is very violent, as you all know, and we will be getting away from them more and more as the chapters go on. They won't be trapped in the house, they won't be all over each other. I don't want anyone to think they'll just stay in the house the entire story. But a lot of shit goes down in there so, ya know.**_

* * *

His boots connected softly with the concrete of her driveway and he paused at the threshold of the sidewalk, staring up at a shadow dancing across the bedroom window. He stared with genuinely curious eyes and then pressed through the door, hearing her lilting voice humming through the empty home. Her hounds ate in the kitchen, looking up at him briefly before they ducked their heads in fear. Good, they should fear him.

His long fingers curled over the post at the end of the stairs, listening to her and watching her shadow dance across the walls. What was she singing? Something about two sisters, one missing? What sense did that make? Loki shook his head and he began to climb the stairs, the steady thump of his steps silenced by the pitch of her voice. He peered through the crack in the door, watched her clumsy feet slide over themselves and heard her break to mutter a curse and she leaned against the end of her bed, rubbing at her right ankle with an annoyed look on her face.

She looked up as he opened the door and his attention flickered briefly to the object sending a glare into his eyes. A gun, it was resting on the nightstand to the left of her bed.

"I have them all over the house," she muttered. "Just in case…ya know?"

_Just in case…._

He looked back to her. "Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you need them? You could have chose another life for yourself, why this one?"

It did not make sense to him. She was painfully smart, horribly pretty. She could be anything else. If she hadn't lived this life, he would have never found her and she would never be at his mercy. She had to know that.

Her eyes blinked at him slowly, the pupils dilated and making his wheels turn. "I um…it's all I've known," she shrugged. "Shane taught me all I needed to know and to a child, this life seems kind of cool. Fast cars, pretty people, respect. Seems cool and glamorous," she sighed and twisted to sit on the edge of the bed, leaning onto her knees. "But after awhile…you get into the game and you realize…that it isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"And yet you continue to live this way," he shook his head. "Pathetic."

"You call me that a lot, but I don't think you really mean it. You call all humans pathetic."

"And let me guess," his lips twisted around a sneer. "You are going to _defend _the human race, something about there being more than meets the eye?"

Vesta laughed and pushed herself to her feet, her legs hesitating as his eyes snapped to her. "No…no nothing like that. But I won't agree with you. I believe there are certain exceptions to the rule, but most humans are pretty dumb. Especially the males."

He watched her skeptically as she swayed closer to him, her teeth working her bottom lip between her teeth. "Ask your question already."

She looks up at him with wide eyes and her lips twitch for a moment. "U-Um…"

Where did all of her courage go? Where did all of that fight she had always relied on go? Vesta Walsh did not stutter! But here she was, tripping over simple words. Was it because of her new obsession with this man, this God that tortured her for days? It had to be, she would never act like a flustered teenager if there wasn't a reason. The loathing began to boil in the back of her throat but it wasn't enough to make her stop wanting him.

Vesta closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and then she smiled at him warily, picking at her nails, long lashes fluttering against her cheeks. "Well um…my friend Damien is throwing a party for his fiancé Cory and I was wandering well…Damien wanted me to bring you."

Silence. She didn't look up at him, she didn't want to see the expression on his face. She was treating him like he was just some guy, she wasn't pleasing that ego of his and she knew that would not make him happy in the slightest but she had to ask. Not for herself…but for Damien.

"I am busy with other matters," he said gruffly. "When can you get me-"

"As soon as the parties over," she finally looked up at him and his face was rather calm. "Saturday, three days from now. You can wait that long, can't you?"

"I suppose so."

He was so willing, so calm and submissive. Her brow furrowed. "Is this even the real you?"

"Excuse me," he raised an eyebrow at her.

Vesta shook her head slowly. "You just don't seem like Loki to me."

"You don't know me."

"I know you're mean to me," she started. "I know you hate humans, I know you would never be so calm. What the hell is wrong with you?"

He didn't say anything, he just stared at her and that made her angry. That made her so fucking angry she wanted to hit him. So she did. Her right hand, fingers curled into fist, shot out and cracked against his jaw. His head snapped to the side, eyes actually wide at the sudden outburst. Vesta's eyes widened and she pulled her arm back, skipping back a step, closer to her gun, and her eyes remained locked on him.

He blinked a few times, looking at her fully but there was no rage in his eyes, just amusement and his lips curled upwards, a loud laugh ringing in Vesta's ears. She blinked a few times in disbelief. He was laughing! He was laughing at her!

"It's not funny!"

"Yes it is."

Vesta growled and jumped at him, actually knocking him back to the ground and he continued to laugh, the tune twisted into something that sounded insane and lost. "Stop laughing!"

He didn't. He didn't stop laughing. She hated the way he looked, so handsome and perfect. It made her want to hit him again. But she didn't. She just stared down at him, legs straddling his hips. The buckles of his leather dug into her skin but she ignored the sensations, she just glared at his pretty face.

"That's it," she spat, pushing herself to her feet. "I'm getting drunk."

"Where do you think you are going," he was following her, the laughter gone and she was surprised he didn't fucking materialize in front of her.

"I'm going to get drunk," she said easily, looking over her shoulder as they descended the stairs. "Would you care to taste mortal wine?"

He actually thought about it. The air tasted strange tonight, he wondered if he had been the mold of a spell but that was impossibly, he would feel in coursing through him. It must be that, the madness that lived in him constantly. It peaked in the basement, and it was peaking here once again. He wanted to do anything. He wanted to do anything with her. The way she moved, heavy in the hips and that rising chest, the flutter of her bright eyes, the way her full lips came towards him. Loki would get drunk with this mortal.

"I would," the words came through twisted and deep.

But she didn't seem to notice, and if she did, she hid it well. She grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter, pat her hounds on the head and curled her fingers at him. "Then follow me, great God of Mischief."

* * *

_Love will scar your makeup lip,  
Sticks to me, so now I'll maybe  
Lean back there I'm sat here,  
Wishing I was sober  
I know I'll never hold you like I used to_

Vesta stared up at the star littered sky, a half-empty bottle of wine clenched in her right hand as her left arm was folded behind her head. Her eyes followed the blinking dot of an airplane that shot overhead and then she heard Loki mumble something under his breath. She rolled her head to the right, seeing him in almost the same position as her but his brow was furrowed and both of his arms were folded behind his head.

"What's got your panties in a knot," Vesta mumbled, lifting her bottle to her lips.

The wine hit her tongue in a tangy, sweet flow and she felt her cheeks flush in delicious heat. He grumbled again and she heard his leather groan as he shifted. The sound always sent chills over her body.

"Wine makes me think…and I hate that."

"You hate thinking?"

She had gotten him superbly drunk. She loved how he said he could handle more wine than she could but he had swilled down most of the bottle Vesta had bought, sending that rose color to dust his own cheeks. She had wanted to get drunk and here they both were, her and a God sprawled on a ratty blue blanket Vesta had fished from a Goodwill bin, at the top of a tree dusted hill above the valley. She loved how casual he spoke, how his accent made the words seem almost beautiful but he slurred here and there, showing the condition a mortal had put him in.

"Yes," he hissed out the word, squeezing his eyes shut and he shook his head. "It is a painful process and I must say that it is entirely your fault."

Vesta cackled, hearing the music drift from Drunk to A Team; she had a minor obsession with Ed Sheeran. "How is it _my _fault? You were the one boasting about how you can handle your alcohol!"

"Oh shut up."

That really made her laugh. "You sound so childish!"

"You enjoy provoking me."

Vesta shrugged and lifted the bottle to her lips again. "Kind of turns me on," she took another swig and then her eyes popped open, one eye blurry and she tossed the bottle to the side; warm cherry colored liquid spilled out onto th ground, soaking into the grass and earth, making the ground seemed blood stained. "Let's dance!"

He looked over at her through one eye; he had never been in this state before but she seemed to have the hang of it. "Huh?"

She kicked out her legs, flailing them in the air before she jumped to her feet and squealed, bending down and pulling him forcibly to his feet. "Dance! Dance! Come on, you know how to dance right?!"

He staggered on his feet while she pranced in front of him, her warm hand chilled in his. "I…I do not think dancing would be the proper thing to do in such a state."

"Oh boo," her lips formed a pout. "Just boo, Loki!"

She laughed and it sounded unbelievably carefree and happy. She twisted in a way that resembled a snake, hands flying up and down at her sides in a way she probably thought looked good. She just looked like a wounded bird. Loki watched her in amusement, some of his sobriety coming back to him as he moved around her. They both reeked of the alcohol they had consumed and it filled the air, the soft, sad, music playing behind them through the window of her vehicle rather fitting.

Vesta squeaked as she tumbled back to the ground and Loki smirked at her while she grinned at him. "I like this," she breathed, scrambling to her feet.

"What do you mean?"

Her lips connected softly with his and her tongue slid over his teeth before she pulled back and danced away from him. "I don't get to get drunk! I haven't been this way in a long time and I feel safe! I never feel safe when I'm drunk!"

"Safe," he mumbled.

But she heard it. "Yeah," she twisted in a circle and then she stopped, hair ruffling around her face as she smiled at him. "I feel safe when you're here. I know nothing but you can harm me and that's ok," it sounded like she was testing the words. "Yeah…yeah that's ok to me."

Loki was sober now. Her words cut through the haze and his entire body froze. It felt like he was going into shock, just as he had when he was in that void, but it wasn't the same. His eyes watched her twisting in front of him and the words continued to ring through his ears. She was ok with this? She was ok with _this_?

After another moment of staring at her, hearing her call his name, he actually smiled. "I…I'm ok with this too…"

* * *

Twisted eyes watched them, watched the God of Mischief fumbling with the clothes of a mortal woman and the bark teeth curled into a grin. He turned and on misshapen legs, he hurried back to his little tree. The closer he got, the wider the doorway grew and he leapt through, hitting the back of the tree. He grunted and slid down a winding and violent path, being tossed and stabbing with roots that invaded the tunnel but he didn't mind. His body was tough, he could handle that.

He tumbled out onto a concrete floor, legs sprawled in front of him as he braced his hands on the floor in front of him. The nymph shook his head, sending strings of moss to the floor and he jumped to his feet, hobbled towards the back of the compound, hearing the growls close to a wolves coming from his destination and he hesitated in the doorway. His masters back curled above the sheets, deep holes showing her spine and the muscles beneath. They scratched over each other and her long back stretched upwards, left arm rising and her nails grew sharp before she plunged into something that made a sickening, squishy, noise.

Her laugh rang through the room as something gurgled beneath her and then her nymph cleared his throat. Her head snapped back to look at him and her jaw dripped with blood, her teeth shining crimson as she pulled herself from her bed.

"Alabaster," one of her long arms reached down as she passed, her nails raking against his rough skin. "Did I tell you to come back?"

He stuttered, watching her grab an amber glass filled with some dark liquid resembling what he had seen his target indulging in earlier. "Y-You asked me to see if something had changed."

"Ah, yes," her lips smacked, sending droplets of blood onto the concrete at her feet. "What has changed with our little God in such a short period of time?"

"The woman," he cackled lowly. "She is his lover."

Etherals eyes set forward, dark and clouded as her lips twisted upwards. "Oh really now…and he called her a sacrifice," her nails tapped against the side of the glass. "Well, I can use her more now. I do not trust him," she shook her head. "I do not believe he will follow through with our arrangement," she took another slow swallow of her drink. "Go back, use another to watch him but I want you to keep a close eye on her. He does anything suspicious, you catch her and I will deal with him. I will have what I want, even if it means breaking a few delicate things."

Alabaster grinned grossly. "Yes ma'am."

She watched her nymph wander away and she sighed, tossing her glass to the side and she started back towards her chambers, eyeing the bloody mess on her bed. His emerald eyes still stared at her, small mortal frame split open and missing a few vital parts. She reaches over and ran a hand down the side of his face, the body and gore disappearing in a light show of violet.

"I want the real thing," she muttered.

* * *

_**I hope no one thought Loki was going to stay violent the entire story. I mean, he will be violent, but not as frequently. I enjoyed writing him this chapter. And thank you to the guest who reviewed! It makes me so happy! The next chapter is actually the start of everything. It will begin to subtly pick up and I'm adding a few characters we all know and love into the mix but I'm not just throwing them in there yet. I'm still playing in Vesta's world for the moment.**_


	11. Chapter 11

He woke to her hair in his face.

His eyes blinked against the harsh light pouring over them and he stretched an arm out, pulling himself up into a seated position. His back cracked as he did so, relieving some of the tension in his shoulders. He stared forward for a long time, seeing the sun having just reached over the peak of skyscrapers in the distance. The only sounds were the calls of nature; birds in the trees, the skitter of squirrels against the ground.

Loki looked back at Vesta, her back to him and she was curled into a tight ball, her hands curled around her face. Her hair was in knots and Loki noted the strands sticking to his knuckles. He had done that? His spine prickled in remembered pleasure and then he decided it was time to find his clothing. He stood and swayed, his body lax and lazy for the moment. Leather found his fingers easily against the grass and soon he was dressed impeccably, hair as wild as ever. He paused at the edge of the ruffled blanket they had all but assaulted last night and stared over the valley. Was this what peace felt like? It was an intriguing feeling. He didn't know if he quite liked it yet.

"Oh my God, why sun."

He looked over at Vesta with an amused glance as she sat up. Hair tumbled over her shoulder, her tattoos bright against the suns glare. She stretched, her curves rolling with muscles and Loki noticed bright indents his nails had left in her. She curled her right leg up and propped her arm on it, eyes squinted up at him. Mascara was smeared over her cheeks and the bite mark he had left on her clavicle the night before last was beginning to scab.

"How the hell…how long have you been up?"

"Minutes."

"How'd you get your clothes on so quickly," she groaned as she stood.

He watched her silently for the longest time, watched the cloth slide over her bare skin littered with marks and grass stains. "Simple. I put them on."

"Prick," she muttered and then she smiled over at him. "You running off on me again today?"

"Yes," he answered stiffly, hating how familiar she was with him already.

She sighed and started towards the car – surprised momentarily that the battery hadn't died already. "Well, I guess I should go finish up everything I had to do. Damien kept me pretty distracted yesterday and then you came back…"

She refused to say home. Her home wasn't his home. He had no home.

She looked up at him where he was, still standing in his spot, staring at the city. He looked as pretty as a picture. Vesta wondered if he would ever consider calling her home his. After all, he seemed to be sticking with her for awhile.

Then Vesta shook that thought away. He was not a lover, he was her captor. A captor she was obsessed with. A captor that just made love to her on a dirty blanket at the top of a hill under the beautiful night sky. How she didn't want to get attached to him. How she didn't want him to touch her or look at her but there he was, staring at her with those bright eyes and she couldn't help but smile at him again.

"Care to ride home with me?"

* * *

"They're calling him the Winter Solider…"

Vesta stared at the television with a blank face, her thumb nail tucked between her teeth that were wearing a steady groove in the cuticle. Loki had left an hour ago, not telling her where he was going and she didn't really ask. She was supposed to be up, she was supposed to be out, but she was covered head to toe in grass stains and her stomach had been craving for some attention so she had obliged. Now her bowl was empty and she was already topless, pacing behind the couch as she stared at the television screen.

The Winter Soldier? Captain America? Dear God, what had happened to the world? She remembered, years ago, when things like this just didn't happen. Sure, gangs ran around, children got abducted, the economy started going down but Gods and super soldiers didn't belong anywhere but in the movies. Now this shit was happening? It was like someone had opened Pandora's Box and fucked the keyhole.

Vesta stopped, took in a deep breath and turned to the staircase. She didn't know if she could concentrate or not but the shower seemed to be a good place to restart herself for the day. She had other things to do. Cory needed a birthday present, Damien requested her attention again for other manners besides bitching and there were a myriad of other problems she needed to go after.

She wanted Loki there.

He would keep her distracted.

But oh no, he had to leave and go deal with manly things like trying to kill Thor.

Thor.

Vesta's fingers hesitated against the knob to the hot water. She needed to get a hold of Richards's number. And that meant talking to Shane. Damn, she didn't want to do that today. But Loki needed this, he needed to assassinate the mighty God of Thunder and Vesta would help him do this. She stepped under the warm spray and her skin prickles, shoulders rolling as a shudder coursed through her

The Winter Solider.

Captain America.

Thor.

Loki.

This was all too much.

Gods and monsters were real, Vesta was dipping her hand into that arena. She had always been good at drugs and alcohol – very good. Crime came as easily and breathing. She was no novice to many things but this…this was a whole new power she was hungry for. Power was something Vesta always crave, she had it since she had killed the leader of the men she now ordered, led. The Queen would never be denied her right to what she wanted and Vesta wanted that power of this new world, she wanted Loki and she was slowly getting him, whether he wanted to accept it or not.

* * *

No one sat outside the apartment building when she pulled up, sunglasses over her eyes to protect the thumping behind her right eye. Her hair fell in perfect waves over her shoulders, heels keeping her high, the steady click making her feel powerful. Her dress clung to her tightly, the color black and her wrists jingled with thick bracelets. She loved the way those heels clicked against the concrete. It made her skin prickle in bumps, giving her chills and making heads turn from across the street.

Vesta didn't knock, she just opened the door and wasn't surprised to see a few soldiers milling around in the long hallway. They looked to her briefly, but she paid them no mind. Her goal was the bedroom at the back of the apartment building, not them.

She slams the door open with a smack, glaring at him sprawled out on the bed. His skin is covered in sweat and Vesta knows he is dying. Any day now, he's going to just slip away. Like a cat. He'll just disappear and that'll be it, no one will ever find the body. But he's here right now and his eyes open as she stomps over to his bedside, picking up his cheap minute phone. He pants as he watches her thumb through numbers, shades concealing any give away to her face. It's dark and it's kind of scary how she's standing over him. Imposing and solid.

"Wh…" he swallows thickly around a breath that's caught in his throat. "What are you doing here?"

She finally graves him with a glance, but he still can't see her eyes because of those damn glasses. "Rest," is all she says before she opens the drawer to his nightstand, looking for a pen.

He licks his lips slowly, feeling the cracks, cringing at the sting that goes through the muscle. "I came by the other night," her fingers stilled over a half a light bulb with crusted yellow powder in the curve of it. "He…he said you fucked him…was he lying?"

She didn't answer right away, face firm and eyes shaking. "No," she mutters, continuing to look for a pen or even a marker. "He wasn't lying."

"Why?"

It sounds desperate, just as Loki had when she held him. But there was something different. She felt only slight pain for the man she called her brother. When Loki sounded that way, he made it seem like he was wounded; Vesta had wanted nothing more than to comfort him. Shane was just confused, wanting an answer. She didn't understand what she was doing, he knew that. She was just doing what she thought she should, with a man she didn't know or understand. The fucker had held her captive in her basement! She couldn't possibly love him. Vesta Walsh…Vesta Walsh didn't love anyone but Mama. She didn't care about anything but that woman's safety. But here she was, fooling around with someone even Shane deemed dangerous. She was letting him live with her, letting him into her bed. This wasn't the woman he and his Papa had found in a dirty bathroom, cowering in a stall over a mama that had abandoned her.

This was not Vesta.

She stood straight, a found pen clenched tightly in her hand. "Because I was crying," she reached up and took of her glasses, perfectly sculpted face glittering with powder. "Because you took Mama from me and I was crying. He…he took me home and I just…I wanted comfort," she shook her head a little and started writing a number on the back of her hand. "I needed emotional comfort but I knew I could only get physical comfort. So I took it and I feel…_fantastic._"

He stared at her long and hard, wondering what was going on in her head to make her think this was all ok. "And the marks he left on you? The bruises, the way you just let your captor come in and strangle you, then defend him this way? That's all ok."

She shrugged a little, tossing the pen back into the drawer. "We got drunk last night, drove up to Cherry Creek and listened to music," she had a glassy look to her eyes. "He's not a monster…I mean, he is, but I know there's more to that. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm not but either way he actually made love to me last night," her lips twitched in the corners. "That wasn't fucking. Maybe he actually likes me, maybe he's trying to make up for what he did to me. What we do is none of your concern. I just came here for a number and I didn't want to talk but I guess you deserve some sort of explanation for my behavior. I love him, I actually love him."

"That's not love, Vesta, that's obsession."

"Isn't obsession a form of love?"

"An unhealthy one."

Her lips and tongue were tingling. Talking to Shane was making some sort of anger come up inside of her and she was trying so hard to not explode on him. He was staring at her with those critical eyes and she didn't see any brotherly concern, his pride had taken a hit when she decided against talking to him again. This was it, she didn't want anything to do with him anymore but, whether she liked it or not, he was family and she reached out to place her fingers against the crook of his left elbow.

"You need to rest," her lips rubbed against themselves, intensifying the tingle. "You're dying Shane, I don't wish that on you but…if we have the time, I would like to forgive you someday."

He didn't say anything, just stared at her and she sighed, lifting her shades back to her face and she stepped towards the door, shutting the door behind her. Shane stared at that door for a long time, glaring, but she wasn't going to come back and laugh, say it was all just something to piss him off. She wasn't going to hug him, she wasn't going to talk to him. Vesta hated him. She hated him in more ways than she could describe. She didn't need him anymore. And that was a bigger slap to the face than dealing with this man she called her King.

* * *

"Hey Richard," Vesta leaned against the counter of the coffee shop, fingers thrumming as she waited for the stuttering worker to finish her brew. It was simple black coffee, what was taking so long?

"Vesta? Holy hell, what's up," she heard something shuffle in the background.

She smiled politely at the worker and scooped up her coffee, heading for the door. "Your phone isn't tapped, is it?"

Silence for a moment and then he was back. "Nope, what you need?"

She pushed open the door with her shoulder, a rush of moderately cold air hitting her and for a moment, Vesta remembered it was almost October. "I was wondering if you could get me on the base in a few days. I'm not sure when."

"Why?"

"Well, it's kind of a business thing, if you understand," she swiveled around an elderly woman walking her dogs and tipped her head in a greeting. "Got a client that needs to solve a family issue and one of your agents is causing some problems."

Silence again. "Wanna talk about this tomorrow? I gotta head out there for Julias anyway."

Vesta didn't know who Julias was, but she had an idea of who he was really talking about so she nodded, though he couldn't see her. Or he probably could. He was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. after all, they were some sneaky motherfuckers. "Yeah, sounds cool. Care to stop by the house?"

"Sure, I can do that. I'm getting on my flight right now."

Vesta stopped, earning a few glares and horrid words she retaliated too. "Oh and Richard?"

"Hmm," he was moving, she could hear the wind through the speaker.

"You being anyone else, bring one of your agents to watch us, and I will end you. Understand me? You're not the only one with resources."

He laughed but it sounded strangled, wary. "I understand that," he grunted at something. "Look, I have to turn off this phone. I'll call you once we get into town."

"Alright," she smiled. "Later later."

"Later."

And she hung up, stuffing the phone into the top of her bra. She lifted her drink to her lips, enjoying the feel of being in the middle of the bustling city. She didn't care for the city, but then again she didn't see herself living anywhere else. It's like it was where she belonged.

Vesta gasped and almost pulled the knife from under her right arm as an arm snaked around her waist. But then she saw his face and relaxed, walking normally again. "You scared the shit out of me," she mumbled, taking another sip from her coffee.

"Seems my kitten has been busy," he purred.

Vesta rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah. And I'm still not done with my day. I thought you had things to do today to."

"I am not finished with my tasks. I saw you in the coffee shop window and couldn't help myself. Now, I heard you mention our deal…"

Right, he could read minds.

"Richard touches down tomorrow, I'm sure you know that. We're gonna discuss arrangements tomorrow. I need you to be there."

"And why is that?"

"To make sure he doesn't bring along any of his buddies to keep surveillance. Need to make sure this isn't some sort of set up. I'm not stupid, whether he's family or not I don't trust him in that agency."

"Smart," he mused as they crossed the street. "Where are you headed now, kitten?"

She growled. "I hate when you fucking call me that," it came out between her teeth.

"You didn't answer my question."

She sighed. "I'm going to Damiens, if you must know."

"Where is your vehicle?"

"Mercedes," she corrected him. "And it's parked in a back lot of a shop we own. Don't need a vehicle for everything, ya know?"

"Indeed, well it seems we must part ways again."

"Wait," she grabbed a hold of the sleeve of his coat, the one she had been laying on just the other night. It made her tingle again. "Why can't I know where you're going?"

He stared at her blankly for a moment, brow deepening ever so slightly before he just shook his head. "She will kill you."

She blinked once and let go of his coat, watching him walk across the street. She would…she would kill Vesta? And who was she? Her fingers curled in the air and then she let her arm drop to her side, cocking her head slightly as she thought about his words. _"She will kill you…" _So, did that mean he didn't want her to die? Maybe he just didn't want anyone else killing her. That was his rite, right? Or whatever. No one else was allowed to touch Vesta, she knew that. Only him.

"Who the hell is she?"

* * *

_**Short. Eh, I hate that but it seemed like an appropriate place to stop.**_


	12. Chapter 12

**_I am so sorry it took me this long to update. I'm not gonna give you a shit excuse and just admit that I got discouraged with the lack of reviews for awhile. I mean, it was one after another and then it fizzled out. But I found my muse again – thanks to EmLawrence. This is for you._**

**_NOTE: _**_(Since I have the Winter Soldier slid into this fic as well) Did I mention that S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't shut down completely? And it's not 'working from the shadows' type of groups it's just 'We got blown from the inside, we need to gather what's left of our shit and kill some mo-fo's' groups. I hope that makes sense._

* * *

There is something truly delightful in the sound of the spine snapping.

He grins and reaches swiftly for the next little troll to be spying on him. _Crack, snap_ and its head is rolling over the floor of the forest. He rubs his hands together, observing his handi-work with a blank face before he looks up again. The bushes rustle, sway change color and his eyes narrow as they turn into a red velvet bed. When he looks up, he notices the entire forest has been converted to that of the 'abandoned' building Etheral had taken refuge in.

"Loki, I am disappointed in you."

He glares at her as she takes a sip from her wine glass, smeared blood staining the surface. He waves a hand, face gruff, and his words are demanding. "What is the meaning of this, witch?"

She smiles at him lopsidedly and pushes herself up from the end of her bed. His eyes are trained on her heels that click slowly in her strut towards him. When she is close enough, she reaches out with bloody claws and cups his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes. She has just fed, the meat still clings to the crevices between her shark-like teeth. He can hear the purring in her chest, like a lion teasing its prey.

But he is not her prey to claim.

"Taking a mortal as your mistress," she lets go of his chin and turns her back on him, waving her right hand above her head in a circular pattern, lips caressing the edge of her wine glass. "I expected better of you."

"She is a delightful little monster," he doesn't even break his composure, though he wants to retch. "And you had your _trolls _watching us? Did you enjoy the show?"

Etheral barks out a laugh while she pours more wine, lets it slosh onto the toes of her boots. "I am sad to say I did not use sight, Alabaster was the only one to see. He has been having these inappropriate thoughts about your little _kitten._"

That elicits a growl from deep in Loki's chest and Etheral looks over her shoulder at him, face blank with curiosity. He curls his fingers at his sides, flames dancing in his irises; she's pricked a nerve and now she knows. Knows what's happening. And so does he, and it makes him all the more sicker. And angrier. He has not felt such emotions in years, it is painful to say the least. But, he has been trying to bargain with this witch and calms himself, letting his fingers loose at his sides before he levels her with an indifferent expression though he is fighting too many emotions to be contained for very long.

"The next spies you send will be the last."

"And?"

"And," he scoffs in a questioning tone before lowering his chin to his chest and grinning from under his brow; he doesn't seem to notice the way his voice deepens, but she does and it only makes her more curious. "And then, I will have you begging for something as sweet as pain."

* * *

So, Vesta lied.

Damien's place was far from her mind.

Instead, a half hour later (a half hour filled with calf-numbing walking) she found herself staring up at the window of a the third apartment in a ten story apartment building. The window was cracked and laughter could be heard even across the street. She could smell the chicken and rice, the spices so thick only her lineage could enjoy it without needing a glass of milk. She closed her eyes and breathed the smell in. The combination of spices and sharp, cold air made her nose sting. But she didn't mind, it just reminded her of simpler times.

She wanted to run up there, run into Mama's arms and cry. Tell her about what was happening. What she was getting herself into.

Her right hand shook and she stared at the door handle just a few feet from her.

But she doesn't do anything. Her hand shakes again and she hastily shoves it into her pocket, turning back the way she came and storming off, head low. She bumps into people walking towards her on the sidewalk but doesn't look up when they threaten her. She doesn't care. She's fighting more things than angry pedestrians.

As she continues to walk, her mind gradually drifts to Loki.

She wants to know where he is, what he's doing – a dark voice slithers out and whispers _who he's doing_ – and she also wonders if he will be home tonight. She shouldn't say home, she knows that, but she wants it to be his home. Her heart – what's left of it, anyway – burns with hatred that he is spending time with some other girl, a mystery girl, and she wants so hard to fight the anger. It's not something she's used to, this jealousy over anything, especially another woman, but something about Loki just makes her angry. Well, not just him in general. The thought of him even looking at another woman has her so angry she wants to decapitate herself.

But she knows she can't make it through the muscles on her own. She'd need help.

* * *

When Vesta walks in after another hour of driving, her mood is instantly lifted by the sight of Avery wagging his big butt across her kitchen floor. "Whose my handsome man," she talks in a baby voice, grabbing the sides of his face and shaking his head a little. "That's right, you are."

He barks once and tries to get a lick to her face but she chuckles and backs out at the last second, causing him to whine. As she sets her keys on the island, she notices something. Where was Synica? Avery trots off into the living room and Vesta follows, if a bit slower. The television is on, that maniac the Winter Soldier dancing across the screen again. As she looks around, she notices a loveseat pulled off the small area just behind – or rather, under – the staircase leading upstairs.

"What are you doing over there," Vesta question, shrugging off her coat and draping it over the back of the couch.

He looks up, the right side of his face shadowed by his hair, and his visible eye glows orange for a moment. It makes her pause, but she gradually approaches his chair until the toes of her shoes are touching his. She peers down at him as he looks up at her fully, his eyes glossed over. He is thinking hard about something. She wonders briefly if he even notices what he's doing as he fumbles for her hips. The breath is snatched from her lungs as he clumsily pulls her down into his lap but she doesn't fight it, just tries to get her legs right so he doesn't break something with his death grip.

"Do you know we were being watched on that hill?"

Her back prickles. "What?"

He nods slowly, eyes still far away. "Trolls," he sticks his lower lip out a little, wrinkling his chin. "I'm impressed. I didn't even notice them…"

"Wait, wait, wait," she waved her hands in front of herself, drawing his attention to her breasts that bounced gently; she covered them promptly but he showed no reaction. "You mean…_actual _trolls?"

"Well, you humans have varying types. Some are large, some are too small to notice, some look like those under-developed humans waddling around the streets," he waved a hand and looked out the window-wall-thing to his right. "It doesn't matter now. I've killed most of them."

She stared at his face, his too-calm-for-her-liking face, and just wanted to punch him. Gods, super soldiers and now trolls? Dear God, it was getting worse and worse. She would need drugs to deal with all of this if it got any more out of hand. Wait, maybe she already _was _on drugs and this was all a hallucination? Staring at him a little more closely, she denied the theory. Sex had never even been this good when she was on drugs before.

"So," she brushed the hair from her face. "What do we do now?"

It took him a moment, but he eventually looked up at her. In this view, he wanted to tell her she was beautiful. His eyes adverted to where her chest tattoos peeked out of the top of her shirt and reached for the collar, tugging on it a little.

"Off," he ordered.

And she hesitated, but rolled her eyes and gripped the hem, bringing her shirt over her head. She tossed it to the side and pouted while he reached back up, brushing his fingertips against the inked skin of her collar bone. She shivered and laid her hands on his shoulders, delighted in the way the leather twisted as his finger examined her. It was kind of cute, his fascination with her tattoos. Of course, she would never admit this to him out loud. She had never seen anyone besides children so fascinated with them, especially seeing as they were so plain (but they were more extravagant than she thought because of the tattoos being hers).

She wanted to touch his face, stroke his cheek, feel how sharp those cheek bones were. She wanted his cold lips on hers and his cold fingers in other places. She hoped he wasn't reading her mind right now because the images were far from pleasant. Or appropriate.

"You will not leave me sight again," he spoke low, still fascinated in her tattoos; he had moved to her arms now. "You are mine and I do not enjoy people playing with my things. It infuriates me."

She nodded slowly, still thinking off his hands digging into her skin. "Sure…sure. I've gotta call some of the guys in for the negotiations tomorrow," she swallowed thickly as his fingers drifted over the swell of her left breast. "You'll be there, right?"

He nodded slowly, eyes flickering all over the place. "Yes, but you will not see me."

She nodded again, this time a little bit faster. "Well then, with you at our backs, I don't think they could pull any tricks from their bags."

"Has he tried before?"

"Not him specifically…but there was a raid a few weeks back on a partner of mine and S.H.I.E.L.D agents were all over the damn scene. Couldn't get shit out. No weapons, no documents, no soldiers – nothing. Just left with a big ugly reminded on the West side of town. Only he knew of the places cargo so…"

"Not much to piece together."

"Says you," she looked over her shoulder at the television, saw Captain America jumping out of a glass elevator. "I'm surprised they're still up and running after all that shit," she muttered.

He took notice of her attention and gripped her ribcage, pulling her chest against his and glared against her shoulder. "Yes…"

She turned her head and caught a mouthful of hair. "Oh God," she pulled a strand from her tongue but he still kept his face against her exposed skin. "Seriously, get a hair cut."

* * *

_Blood._

_Blood._

_Blood._

_It's every fucking where._

_For some reason, she can't stop turning in a circle, her vision blurred as she picks up speed before being thrown to the ground. Pain splinters across her body and she arches her back, letting out a strangled cry of pain before she is tossed into the air, inhaling clouds. Her city is below her, lit like a fucking diamond in the sun and she can't even smile._

_The blood is in her hair._

_The blood is in her clothes._

_The blood is on her skin._

_She feels like she's in a pressurized tank, the weight screaming and pressing down onto her. She can't breathe, she can't see, she can't do a damn thing but dangle there._

* * *

Vesta didn't wake up gasping like she thought she would.

She didn't even open her eyes at first, when she did, she noticed it was still dark in her room. She sat up slowly, rubbing at her eyes as they adjusted to the faintly lit room (the light coming from the cracked bathroom door). She looked around, didn't see Loki in bed next to her and didn't see him sitting in the wide loveseat by the door. She reached over to what she had dubbed 'his' side of the bed and opened the drawer, pulling out her gun.

As she slid out of bed, she cradled the gun in both hands, moving slow through the short hallway to the top of the stairs. As she peered down into the living room, she him standing in the middle of the room in his 'normal' clothes, pacing as Sineca watched him. He stopped occasionally to glare at the dog but all she did was wag her tail until he stopped looking at her. Vesta gave a small sigh and lowered her gun, walking back into her room. As she slid back into bed, she kept the gun curled in her right hand, sliding both under the pillow beneath her head before she closed her eyes.

He was here.

He was here.

She was safe.


End file.
